Mah-Rone du Semaine: Frank Lautenberg
While at a "support Planned Parenthood" rally, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg said something that caused me to whip out the Mah-rone award:
They want other people not to be able to have their own opinions. These people don’t deserve the freedoms in the Constitution, but we’ll give it to them anyway.
I don't care about the abortion angle, mainly because I don't think it is all that interesting. But I do think the "freedoms" one is terribly interesting. If I had a moment with Senator Lautenberg, I'd ask him where in the Constitution our rights are given by government to the people. But he wouldn't be able to do that, because even a little bit of google-fu shows that in the second paragraph first sentence of the Declaration of Independence, our rights were endowed to us by our Creator. Not by man. In fact, we declared independence from that very concept, that a king should rule over his subjects. This is not just a mere technicality or bit of wordsmithing. This is the foundation of our country, and cannot be overstated. You can plug your ears and close your eyes, but you can't rewrite our history or change the meanings of words. The fact that a sitting Senator would so callously and cavalierly create an entire second-class of citizenry just because they disagree with him shouldn't be glossed over.
It would be easy to dismiss this as some dumb Senator who wasn't really thinking; after all we get plenty of off the cuff gaffes from our representatives all the time. But I don't think that was the case. I also don't think that the Senator hasn't bothered to open a history book; he must have heard of our founding fathers and documents. But when Frank says "but we'll give it to them anyway," that says to me that he believes in his heart of hearts that those documents don't apply, and that he, along with his DC mates, parcels out rights and freedoms to the peons who elect him, and if you dare to disagree with what he believes, then you just better hope that Frank is feeling benevolent, otherwise say adios to your rights and freedoms. Thankfully, life doesn't work like that, even if you really want it to.
Just weeks ago, there was much talk and wringing of hands pertaining to toning down "poisonous rhetoric," and "choosing your words," and I think Senator Lautenberg did that. He wanted to send a message, to the Planned Parenthood supporters in attendance, to the protestors at the event, and everyone who hears of this story. And I got exactly what he said, and I'll say this to New Jersey: You are what you elect, whether it's Chris Christie or Frank Lautenberg. Please elect more of the former and less of the latter.
They want other people not to be able to have their own opinions. These people don’t deserve the freedoms in the Constitution, but we’ll give it to them anyway.
I don't care about the abortion angle, mainly because I don't think it is all that interesting. But I do think the "freedoms" one is terribly interesting. If I had a moment with Senator Lautenberg, I'd ask him where in the Constitution our rights are given by government to the people. But he wouldn't be able to do that, because even a little bit of google-fu shows that in the second paragraph first sentence of the Declaration of Independence, our rights were endowed to us by our Creator. Not by man. In fact, we declared independence from that very concept, that a king should rule over his subjects. This is not just a mere technicality or bit of wordsmithing. This is the foundation of our country, and cannot be overstated. You can plug your ears and close your eyes, but you can't rewrite our history or change the meanings of words. The fact that a sitting Senator would so callously and cavalierly create an entire second-class of citizenry just because they disagree with him shouldn't be glossed over.
It would be easy to dismiss this as some dumb Senator who wasn't really thinking; after all we get plenty of off the cuff gaffes from our representatives all the time. But I don't think that was the case. I also don't think that the Senator hasn't bothered to open a history book; he must have heard of our founding fathers and documents. But when Frank says "but we'll give it to them anyway," that says to me that he believes in his heart of hearts that those documents don't apply, and that he, along with his DC mates, parcels out rights and freedoms to the peons who elect him, and if you dare to disagree with what he believes, then you just better hope that Frank is feeling benevolent, otherwise say adios to your rights and freedoms. Thankfully, life doesn't work like that, even if you really want it to.
Just weeks ago, there was much talk and wringing of hands pertaining to toning down "poisonous rhetoric," and "choosing your words," and I think Senator Lautenberg did that. He wanted to send a message, to the Planned Parenthood supporters in attendance, to the protestors at the event, and everyone who hears of this story. And I got exactly what he said, and I'll say this to New Jersey: You are what you elect, whether it's Chris Christie or Frank Lautenberg. Please elect more of the former and less of the latter.