- The Shining City Grows Dark...

I’ve recently been thinking that we aren’t going over a fiscal waterfall after all; that is to say, we won’t end up with the Western world in ashes all around us while Tina Turner and her cohorts make us duke it out for fresh water and dog stew in the thunderdome. But I’d be lying if I didn’t notice that we’re at least going in that direction. And one very important way that the west is falling apart is what I think is best described by the way we are prepared to ignore the rule of law.

Eminent domain is an excellent example of this. The law was interpreted carefully and with regard to all prior statutes, but it still resulted in the destruction of the sanctity of private property. Now we can only own real estate so long as there is no one else with better political connections who wants to own it too. If there is, then they simply use the government to seize the property, and out the door you go.

Another good example of this would be the [fictitious if you ask me] debt ceiling. Congress passed the law limiting the amount of debt the federal government can issue. But when we hit that limit, the Treasury kept right on issuing debt anyway. There is no punishment for it and no penalty. The law is simply ignored – at least until congress can get together on a plan to raise the limit again.

The Obamacare waivers being issued to every Tom, Dick And Harry with a union card is another excellent example. The law applies to 100% of the people - except those people who have strong union ties and can get their reps to DC to beg for a waiver. And an even worse example is the story of how the NLRB is trying to prevent Boeing from creating thousands of new jobs in 'union - unfriendly" South Carolina and to force them to move their factory to Washington State instead, where the unions can use the local law to greater increase their roles.

Over and over again, the politically connected are subject to one set of laws and regulation, and the private citizen is forced to endure a much harsher brand of justice.

Now there is this:
Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.

In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer's entry.

"We believe ... a right to resist an unlawful police entry into a home is against public policy and is incompatible with modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence," David said.

The constitution is the highest law in the land, and it used to be that it restricted what government can do to its citizens not the other way around. But these days ‘simplistic’ ideas like that are being tossed out for what academics would call a more ‘nuanced’ view of the authority of government.

To me, it just looks like a light going out and the darkness descending. So much for the shining city on the hill.