Wednesday night I attended a debate between Jonah Goldberg and Peter Beinart at Salt Lake Community College. It was a great debate from which I came away thinking: I wish John McCain would shrug off his native populism and be a strong advocate of conservatism like Jonah Goldberg.
Probably the most impactful thing I heard from Goldberg was a point he made regarding "rights." The Bill of Rights is a negative guarantor of rights--as in, it limits what government can do to the individual. Liberals have turned rights into "positive" things. The right to health care, a job, etc.
As Goldberg pointed out, anything the government gives, it can take away. And rights that are native to the individual--inalienable, God-given--cannot be given or taken away by government.
This is classic liberalism at its best.
If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label Bill of Rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill of Rights. Show all posts
03 October 2008
23 December 2007
Free Mark Steyn
At least in Canada, when the local Muslim interest group complains, they don't throw you in jail and threaten lashes and/or worse. Well, they haven't, yet.
Mark Steyn has been a favorite columnist of ours for some time now. We serialized one of his best (and funniest) columns here, here, here, and here. We mentioned him in a post about an experience at the Cambridge Intel Seminar where we met a critic of his here. And if that's not enough Steyn for you, he's currently filling in for Sean Hannity on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes.
First of all, it behooves us to understand that other Western countries do not protect speech the way the US does. In fact, they typically don't have a Bill of Rights in the way that America does. This bears repeating: speech is not protected anywhere the way it is in the United States. Mark Steyn, like others before him, is currently experiencing what it is like when one offends a powerful interest group in a country with limited speech protection.
Read the overview about the case at National Review Online. Then, read what prompted the current kerfuffle at Macleans.ca. Finally, check out more about the case in an article by John Robson. Then, if you like, return and comment here.
If you have tips, questions, comments, suggestions, or requests for subscription only articles, email us at lybberty@gmail.com.
Mark Steyn has been a favorite columnist of ours for some time now. We serialized one of his best (and funniest) columns here, here, here, and here. We mentioned him in a post about an experience at the Cambridge Intel Seminar where we met a critic of his here. And if that's not enough Steyn for you, he's currently filling in for Sean Hannity on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes.
First of all, it behooves us to understand that other Western countries do not protect speech the way the US does. In fact, they typically don't have a Bill of Rights in the way that America does. This bears repeating: speech is not protected anywhere the way it is in the United States. Mark Steyn, like others before him, is currently experiencing what it is like when one offends a powerful interest group in a country with limited speech protection.
Read the overview about the case at National Review Online. Then, read what prompted the current kerfuffle at Macleans.ca. Finally, check out more about the case in an article by John Robson. Then, if you like, return and comment here.
If you have tips, questions, comments, suggestions, or requests for subscription only articles, email us at lybberty@gmail.com.
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