Topic: Liberal Fascism
Well, it finally has happened. For a long time progressives have been fed up with the stupid Constitution of the United States, an arcane document that sometimes prevents them from remaking America in the image of a New Deal wall mural. So now congressional Democrats, with Nancy Pelosi in the lead, are proposing to eliminate the First Amendment, replacing it with something called the People’s Rights Amendment. Here’s the text:
Section 1. We the people who ordain and establish this Constitution intend the rights protected by this Constitution to be the rights of natural persons.
Section 2. People, person, or persons as used in this Constitution does not include corporations, limited liability companies or other corporate entities established by the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state, and such corporate entities are subject to such regulation as the people, through their elected state and federal representatives, deem reasonable and are otherwise consistent with the powers of Congress and the States under this Constitution.
Section 3. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to limit the people's rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, free exercise of religion, and such other rights of the people, which rights are inalienable.
Another way of putting this would be to say: “The moment you associate with a second person, or with a group of people, for any purpose whatsoever, your constitutional rights become subject to government review.” In effect, Pelosi & Co. are proposing to cancel Americans’ right of freedom of association. Supposedly this is to eliminate that begbear of the Occupy movement, “corporate personhood.” But as National Review points out in this editorial:
The so-called People’s Rights Amendment would have some strange consequences: Newspapers, television networks, magazines, and online journalism operations typically are incorporated. So are political parties and campaign committees, to say nothing of nonprofits, business associations, and the like. Under the People’s Rights Amendment, [NYT columnist] Thomas Friedman would still enjoy putative First Amendment protection, but it would not do him much good inasmuch as the New York Times Company, being a corporation, would no longer be protected by the First Amendment. In short, any political speech more complex than standing on a soapbox at an intersection would be subject to the whims of Nancy Pelosi.
If I had to pick the person least to be trusted to preserve the freedoms and liberties bequeathed to us by the Founders and Framers, Nancy Pelosi would be on the short list of finalists.
