What is "Extreme"?
Per the Washington Post:
But Democrats recited a litany of Brown's controversial statements, including
several from a 2000 speech titled "Fifty Ways to Lose Your Freedom." She said
senior citizens "blithely cannibalize their grandchildren because they have a
right to get as much 'free' stuff as the political system will permit them to
extract." Elsewhere, Brown has said: "Where government moves in, community
retreats, civil society disintegrates. . . . When government advances . . .
freedom is imperiled, civilization itself [is] jeopardized."
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) told reporters that Brown is "one of
the most extreme nominees that has ever come before the United States Senate in
the 32 years I've been a senator."
OK, so I am an extremist. Take in particular the last quote from Brown - I bet I could find about 20 similar quotes in the Federalist Papers or from other contributors to the US Constitution. That quote should be over the front door of the ACLU. This is the second time I have read statements about her that were intended to scare me off but in fact endeared me to her. The first example was here.
Update: People for the American Way have other JRB comments that are supposed to scare me, but don't. Here is an example of what scares PFTAW:
In the New Deal/Great Society era, a rule that was the polar opposite of the
classical era of American law reigned...Protection of property was a major
casualty of the Revolution of 1937"¦Rights were reordered and property acquired a
second class status...It thus became government's job not to protect property
but, rather, to regulate and redistribute it. And, the epic proportions of the
disaster which has befallen millions of people during the ensuing decades has
not altered our fervent commitment to statism.
I am starting to wish she was running for office, so I could vote for her. Reason has similar thoughts here.
Update #2: Reason has a profile of her here. Many more great quotes from her, including this gem:
In a dissent in San Remo Hotel v. City and County of San Francisco
(2002), which upheld the city's sweeping property restrictions, Justice Brown
expanded on that theme. "Theft is still theft even when the government approves
of the thievery," she declared. "The right to express one's individuality and
essential human dignity through the free use of property is just as important as
the right to do so through speech, the press, or the free exercise of religion."
Go Janice, go.
Scott:
I am always skeptical of any conservative called "extreme" (mostly social conservatives) but the more I read about this lady, the more I think she could be one of my favorite political figures, period. Anyone who votes against her will be well on the way to losing my vote in upcoming federal elections. Unfortunately, I live in the PRM (Massachusetts).
June 9, 2005, 1:45 pmBrad Warbiany:
I hate to say it, but she's pretty extreme. Let's face it. The vast majority of this country is either Republican or Democrat. Meaning they're either weak collectivists or strong collectivists.
I'm a libertarian, and that makes me an "extremist" in our common world. Janice Rogers Brown is an originalist when it comes to the constitution, and if not officially a libertarian, she's pretty close. It's sad that believing in the words of the founding fathers of this nation, in the ideas of personal liberty and responsibility, makes one an extremist. But it is the case. Sometimes if we might be able to shine a light on just how far the "mainstream" has moved, we might be able to swing it back our way.
June 9, 2005, 6:30 pmdearieme:
We've got a job free over on the right side of the Atlantic: leader of the Conservative Party. Would this good lady be interested, do you think? Our last woman did a fine job.
June 10, 2005, 8:02 ammarkm:
Why would any true American be interested in a party that is so gutless it kicks out an MP for being photographed holding a legal hunting weapon?
June 11, 2005, 10:17 pmdearieme:
Because the purpose of a new leader is to change things?
June 15, 2005, 6:13 amcoyoteseven:
Janice is an excellent example of how Genetic Stupidity afflicts even the highly educated.
"Extremist"? When extremism becomes the norm, is it still extremism? When a democracy collapses into mob rule, is it still a "democracy"? How would You define a Political Dictatorship? When a political party controls all branches of the federal government, actively conspires to silence all opposing voices, accepts and embraces lies, secrecy, deception, manipulation, distortion, propaganda, and corruption as legitimate methods of governing, and arrogantly begins dismantling the United States Constitution in the name of "Homeland Security" - while a majority of "Americans" proudly wallow in their own cowardly ignorance and pathetic nationalism - that, in my view, would be a classic description of a POLITICAL DICTATORSHIP.
Would it be "extremist" to suggest that, like the Soviet Union, the United States is now accelerating toward it's own collapse through the greed, ignorance, and corruption of this Republican Political Dictatorship? Iraq was the beginning of the end toward the U.S.S.R.'s collapse. Now the U.S. Defense Department has declared that we cannot win the "war" in Iraq(6/10/05). The record national debt brought by this administration has now reached a level that is regarded as "suicidal" by economists all over the world - a record national debt that is being financed almost entirely by the Chinese and Saudi Arabia. "We" have "downsized" federal and state governments to the point where the infrastructure of this country is on the verge of collapse while "upsizing" the power of the people(republicans) who "run" it. Thanks to the "Patriot" Act, every single person in this country who is authorized by the federal government(military, federal, state and local police, national guard, all the way down to your friendly local park ranger and dog catcher) to carry a weapon is now under the Direct control of ONE person - the Director of Homeland Security. The republican ideologues have successfully executed their historical vendetta of destroying public schools, social security, and our medical system. Corrupt corporations are accepted as the "American" way of doing business. In 5 years, the global respect, admiration, and leadership we have been blessed with for over 200 years has virtually disappeared due to the lies, manipulation, dishonesty, and outright arrogance of this administration. Our republican "representatives" are gleefully adopting the "Let 'em Die" policy of cutting medical aid to our elderly - the very people who spent their lives working and contributing to making this country what it is (or was). Our republican "representatives" reward our troops for putting their lives on the line by cutting their benefits and closing down veterans hospitals. Our natural resources are being mindlessly squandered while our environment has deteriorated to the point where 100's of thousands of Americans are dying yearly as a direct result of air and water pollution, this of course occuring while we contribute more filth to global pollution and global warming than any other country on earth - thanks to the ignorance and greed of our republican "representatives". Like spineless cowards and pathetic hypocrites, we whine about gas prices while we do absolutley nothing to end our obscene addiction to oil. Our churches and Synagogues have become icons to the Corporate Cow while our "traditional family values" are illustrated by fat, lazy, out-of-control kids raised by fat, clueless, irresponsible parents. American Christianity is no longer a religion. It is a cult of intolerance, ignorance and greed.
And knowing that freedom and democracy are the most dangerous enemies of right-wing ideologues, as the bush administration and the republican party have made crystal clear through both words and actions, would it be "extremist" to wonder how much longer true Americans will remain complacent before they take up arms against a government which no longer represents the people, as the Constitution requires?
Wouldn't it be extremely foolish to say "it can't happen here..."?
America is dead.
June 15, 2005, 8:14 pmWelcome to Amerika and the Republikan "New World Order".