Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most cherished principles and beliefs questioned and in some cases mocked. That psychic discomfort is the price we pay for basic civic peace. It's worth it. It's a pragmatic principle. Defend everyone else's rights, because if you don't there is no one to defend yours. -- MaxedOutMama

I don't just want gun rights... I want individual liberty, a culture of self-reliance....I want the whole bloody thing. -- Kim du Toit

The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them.-- Moshe Ben-David

The cult of the left believes that it is engaged in a great apocalyptic battle with corporations and industrialists for the ownership of the unthinking masses. Its acolytes see themselves as the individuals who have been "liberated" to think for themselves. They make choices. You however are just a member of the unthinking masses. You are not really a person, but only respond to the agendas of your corporate overlords. If you eat too much, it's because corporations make you eat. If you kill, it's because corporations encourage you to buy guns. You are not an individual. You are a social problem. -- Sultan Knish

All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war. -- Billy Beck

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Cook's Postulate

The key to understanding the American system is to imagine that you have the power to make nearly any law you want. But your worst enemy will be the one to enforce it. - Author Rick Cook
On Friday, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB1070, which will become law (assuming no successful court challenges in the interim) in about three months. There has been quite a national uproar over the bill (PDF), ostensibly designed to deal with what is essentially uncontrolled illegal immigration into and through Arizona, along with kidnappings, drug smuggling and, recently, drug cartel warfare coming across the border as well. One of the primary questions is, "is the bill Constitutional." Even Instapundit took up that question. Quite possibly part of it is not, though it's difficult to see where the majority of the law wouldn't be.

Still, as Vox pointed out over lunch yesterday, this looks like the right-wing's "big government" reaction to an admittedly profound problem: "DO something!!"

Thus we return to Cook's Postulate. Does this law pass, for example, Joe Huffman's "Jews in the Attic" test? Honestly, I doubt it. And I'm concerned about the unintended consequences of this law (which, admittedly runs a paltry 17 pages, as opposed to, say, the "health care" bill's 2000-plus pages).

Whatever happens as a result of the passage of this law, I doubt seriously it will be much of an improvement over present conditions. Remember, any law that is passed can be enforced by your worst enemy.

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