June 23, 2005

Just Because I'm A RINO Doesn't Mean I Can't Get Cranky

Flag burning amendment? Save your breath. Over the top anti-Hillary screeds? Meh. But SCOTUS gutting the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause? Bad! Bad! Bad!

I'm jumping right in on this one with Michelle and Prof. Bainbridge. This is the equivalent of giving a teenager the keys to the biz-tax revenue liquor cabinet based on the promise that he'll only use them if he thinks a drink would be a good idea.

And via Tim Worstall, I love EU Rota's response to a liberal commenter:

Received an email from an extreme leftist regarding this story. A one-liner,

Individualism = Selfishness

I agree, now piss off.

Grrr.

UPDATE DEUX: James Joyner and Steve Verdon weigh in from OTB. Will Collier also has an excellent post. And I am going to tug on Superman's cape by suggesting that Eugene Volohk's attempt to liken the ruling to the privatization of the provision of governmental services doesn't work for me, although I understand his bemusement at the seeming political flip on this issue.

NOW UPDATE TROIS: Longtime Llama commenter RBJ hints at the shape of things to come:

MR. BROWN: [cough] Don't worry, dear! I'll get it! [cough]

[ding dong ding dong]

[ding dong ding dong]

MR. BROWN: Yes?

MAN: Hello. Uhh, can we have your liver?

MR. BROWN: My what?

MAN: Your liver. It's a large, ehh, glandular organ in your abdomen.

ERIC: [sniff]

MAN: You know, it's, uh,-- it's reddish-brown. It's sort of, uhh,--

MR. BROWN: Yeah,-- y-- y-- yeah, I know what it is, but... I'm using it, eh.

ERIC: Come on, sir.

MR. BROWN: Hey! Hey! Stop!

ERIC: Don't muck us about.

MR. BROWN: Stop! Hey! Hey! Stop it. Hey!

MAN: Hallo.

MR. BROWN: Ge-- get off.

MAN: What's this, then? Mmh.

MR. BROWN: A liver donor's card.

MAN: Need we say more?

ERIC: No!

MR. BROWN: Listen! I can't give it to you now. It says, 'in the event of death'. Uh. Oh! Ah. Ah. Eh.

MAN: No one who has ever had their liver taken out by us has survived.

MR. BROWN: Agh.

ERIC: Just lie there, sir. It won't take a minute.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Zip it up.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MRS. BROWN: 'Ere. What's going on?

MAN: Uh, he's donating his liver, madam.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MRS. BROWN: Is this because he took out one of those silly cards?

MAN: That's right, madam.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MRS. BROWN: Typical of him!

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MRS. BROWN: He goes down to the public library, he sees a few signs up, comes home all full of good intentions.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MRS. BROWN: He gives blood. He does cold research. All that sort of thing.

MAN: Oh.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

ERIC: Ehh.

MRS. BROWN: What do you, uh,-- what do you do with them all, anyway?

ERIC: They all go to saving lives, madam.

MRS. BROWN: Mmm. That's what he used to say. 'It's all for the good of the country' he used to say.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MRS. BROWN: Do you think it's all for the good of the country?

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Hm?

MRS. BROWN: Do you think it's all for the good of the country?

MAN: Well, I wouldn't know about that, madam. We're just, uh, doing our jobs, you know.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MRS. BROWN: You're not... doctors, then?

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Oh. Blimey no.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN and ERIC: [laughing]

YOUNG MAN: Mum. Dad. I'm off out now. I'll see you about seven.

MAN and ERIC: [laughing]

MRS. BROWN: Right-o, son. Look after yourself.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Oh. Now.

ERIC: M-hmm.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MRS. BROWN: Do you, um,...

ERIC: [mumble]

MAN: Carry on.

MRS. BROWN: ...fancy a cup of tea?

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Oh, well, that would be very nice.

MRS. BROWN: Oh.

MAN: Thank you.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Thank you very much, madam.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Thank you.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Oh, eh,-- I thought she'd never ask.

ERIC: You know it.

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Uhh, you do realise, uh, he has to be, uh,... well, dead,... by the terms of the card, uh, before he donates his liver.

MRS. BROWN: Well, I told him that, but he never listens to me. Silly man!

MR. BROWN: [screaming]

MAN: Only I was wondering, ehh,... well, you know, what you was thinking of doing after that. I mean, [sniff] will you stay on your own,... or is there, uh,... well, someone else, sort of, uh,... on the horizon?

MRS. BROWN: I'm too old for that sort of thing. I'm past my prime.

MAN: Not at all. You're a very attractive woman.

MRS. BROWN: Well, I'm certainly not thinking of getting hitched up again.

MAN: Sure?

MRS. BROWN: Sure.

[pause]

MAN: Can we have your liver, then?

Posted by Robert at June 23, 2005 01:14 PM
Comments

Dude, come off it, you ain't a RINO.

Posted by: Bill from INDC at June 23, 2005 01:21 PM

Nu-HUUUH! It says so right on the TTLB bar. And if the Internet says something, it MUST be true!

Posted by: Robert the LB at June 23, 2005 01:29 PM

I need to talk to the Commissar about tightening up the admissions process.

Posted by: Bill from INDC at June 23, 2005 01:46 PM

Does getting Janine Turner drunk qualify as a good idea?

Soon enough we'll be in Monty Python land, where they come to take your liver "for the public good". I.e., Teddy Kennedy.

Posted by: rbj at June 23, 2005 01:59 PM

Even a leftist like myself is horrified at the ramifications of this. All I see is connected developers plowing through defenseless (meaning poor) neighborhoods. I doubt that any property in Greenwich will be seized anytime soon. Your metaphor is perfect…

Posted by: LB buddy at June 23, 2005 08:38 PM

Oh, and the individualism=Selfishness was taken out of context. That leftist was actually agreeing with the right:

http://www.washingtonrox.blogspot.com/

Posted by: LB buddy at June 23, 2005 08:46 PM

This RINO (who has not yet read the opinion) agrees, but not necessarily with the Monty Python like proportions ;)

Posted by: Jennifer at June 24, 2005 12:08 AM

Yorgle! I've been spotted.
Let's see, China uses the organs of its executioned for transplantation, Breyer seems to love foreign law, and given the Benthamian utilitarianism of the current court, harvesting the organs from one marginal citizen to save two or more good citizens is at the bottom of that slippery slope.

Posted by: rbj at June 24, 2005 02:52 PM

So...shall we hear more carping from the Left about how the Constitution is a "living document" and how evil and wrong it would be to nominate a Strict Constructionalist to the court?

Posted by: DaveP. at June 24, 2005 05:14 PM

This is an issue that should unite all principled liberals and conservatives, as well as any American who believes in the Constitution. The task at hand is to mobilize pressure on state and local governments to restrict their use of eminent domain. Every homeowner in the country should write their elected officials today to demand that economic development and tax farming be excluded from the definition of public use. Every candidate for local office should be forced to foreswear ever taking someone’s home to give to a developer.

Posted by: elgodosimp at June 26, 2005 10:48 AM

And, after writing your elected officials, take action to mitigate the effects of Kelo by joining the Castle Coalition (CastleCoalition.org). The usual disclaimer: my only affiliation is the modest $ I've contributed over the years.

Posted by: Scott Lawton at June 26, 2005 08:17 PM
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