Posted on 06/23/2005 8:06:55 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
Everybody knows about the shot that was heard around the world as the birthing pains of this once great nation. Today, sadly, we may have heard it's death knell.
It did not come with violence or shots fired. It came with the virtual elimination of personal property rights.
Our founding fathers knew how important the ownership of property was and sought to protect the right to be secure in the ownership of property to the extent that they enshrined the guarantee that property would not be taken for public use without due process and just compensation.
For over 200 years it was understood that "public use" meant that the ownership would transfer from the private owner to the local, state, or federal government for things such as military bases, roads, schools, prisons, etc. Now, the meaning of "public use" has been altered by 5 people who were never elected to office and in all reality, are completely unaccountable to anyone, to mean privately owned condos, shopping centers, and business parks under the thin guise that those enterprises would contribute more tax money to the coffers, thus increasing the "public good"
Justice Stevens, writing for the majority said that judges should give city councils and state legislatures "broad latitude in determining what public needs justify the use of the takings power," he added. To make sure that he wasn't misunderstood he added, "The city has carefully formulated a development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including, but not limited to, new jobs and increased tax revenue," and just destroyed any pretence that you have any recourse whatsoever if the government or county decides that they want your property for any reason at all.
Sandra Day O'Connor writing a scathing dissent correctly said that now rich and politically land developers and businesses could basically take your land away from you with the help from the local government. Yes, you could fight it in court, but it is now fruitless as you are guaranteed to lose in a fixed fight.
For years the people have for the most party sat quietly as the government stole more and more freedoms from us. Prior to 1914 and fool could take any drug he or she wanted and kill themselves, thus increasing the quality of the gene pool for the rest of us. Before 1918, the government had no claim to your wages and could not tax them. Prior to 1934, Sears sold machine guns from their catalog and nobody thought anything about it. Prior to the 1950's preachers could freely endorse or denigrate any political candidate they wanted, just as had been done since the very first town government was formed in this country almost 350 years prior. Since 1986 it has been illegal to manufacture and sell a machine gun to a civilian despite the fact that in the past several decades the number of people int he US murdered by a person with a machine gun has been exactly one, and the person doing the shooting was a police officer using a gun issued to the police department.
But hope is not lost however, ownership of real property does a funny thing to people. It is a spot that a person can say, "This land is MINE!" with a dedication and a fierceness that is somewhat scary. Religion and politics and abortion and the WOT all take a back seat when two neighbors are faced with having their property stolen by the government.
Maybe that bell sounding isn't the death knell but the alarm.
Maybe this will awake the sheeple to realize that the socialist have gone too far.
Maybe the bell is just signalling round two of the Revolutionary War.
Will this war be fought with bullets or ballots?
We shall see.
It appears I've mixed the present and the past in my verbs in the above. You'll have to forgive me --- due to this court decision, I'm two tense.
The rich elite of Martha's Vineyard, Walter Cronkite and Ted Kennedy, among other hypocritical environmental wing nuts fight against windmills that destroy their ocean views. Just imagine how they'd howl if their ritzy property was seized.
http://www.climateark.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=23933
Has any liberal wag spoken on this Supreme Court decision? They won't....until their property is threatened.
Kind of like cutting off the blood supply to Vampires as well.
The Republic is dead.
I needed some cheering up after today's decision and your post did it.
That is what I was quoting. We just need Judges who know that is a limitation on the governments rights, not mine.
I can accept the idea of giving my land for a road, military base, other government facility.
Nonsense. This vote was 5-4. But 4 of 5 of the majority are liberals (including 2 Clinton appointees), and 4 of 4 of dissenters are Conservatives.
The message is clear: Conservative justices support your property rights, and Liberal justices want to strip them from you. That is the banner we should march beneath next year, in 2008, and in every governor and local race in between.
We the people can stop this decision across America, and make sure a property-rights litmus test be applied for every SCOTUS nominee from now on.
Set a date, get the word out, and lets shut down the United States!
Don't drive a car, pick-up truck, semi, or anything. Don;t let your children go to school, don't go to work, nothing on this date!
Shut it down for 24 hours! Do not buy anything, just shut everything down!
Maybe showing the government who really makes up this Country will put the fear of God back in them!
Lock 'n load.
this is hardly an issue of failure to pay taxes, or laws governing what you can build on your property. I certainly don't want my neighbor to be able to claim zoning laws are unconstitutional and turn his house into an adult bookstore. let's stay focused on the issue here - eminent domain for private use.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I will stand arm and arm with people who oppose the continued erosion of the people rights.
Everything congress does is to limit the rights of citizens. How about limiting the rights of government, illegal aliens, foriengera wanting visa's, etc. Damn, leave the people alone.
The liberal black robes will be stopped....
PETITION FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVENCES
We the People of the United States, do hereby demand that our duly elected representatives in both houses of Congress, initiate impeachment proceedings against the following Supreme Court Justices:
John Paul Stevens Anthony Kennedy David H. Souter Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen G. Breyer
We, the undersigned, consider the Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v. New London, 04-108, rendered June 23, 2005, not only unacceptable, but to be in criminal violation of the Justice's oaths to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Be advised that We the People regard elected officials to be our public servants. Failure to take action against the Justices specified shall be considered support for the decision rendered in the aforementioned case, and will result in our resolve to ensure your defeat in the next election.
Being from myriad political and ideological spectra, we are united in our belief that our right to own property is inalienable.
If you agree to the above, click here:
Sign Here
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Now they'll just take the whole house. Probable cause = increased tax base. And any private citizen that supports such action by the government is equally covetous, expecting to benefit from such seizures. For the "benefit of the community"...
Proverbs 28:21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.
"Through no fault of my own I am being put upon. I've had all I can stand from you in the front, and I do not plan to roll over. So when you send your collector, have That Woman send your WACO KILLERS with them. They will need them. Living is not very much fun with you standing on my neck. If you do it right, dying will be one hell of a party."
Letter from Elmer Wade to the feds in the book "Send in the Waco Killers" by Vin Suprynowicz
Self-governance and liberty are scary things to some people, I suppose.
"What about building a wind power site off Hyannis Port?"
What about drilling for oil off the coast -- the NEAR coast? Put a landfill close by (what do they do with their trash??). That's a necessary function of society.
Fortunately, conservatives will attempt CPR.
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