Protect Homes, Not Flags

My apologies. It is probably a very bad idea to even consider posting to one's blog while still in the lingering throes of an unexpected and novel reaction to some newly-prescribed medication. No, not mental, you idiot. Anti-inflammatory, of all bloody things. I therefore apologise in advance. Regular blogging, if there ever was such a thing, shall resume... sometime. I am still alive, though I don't quite feel so.

Title taken from a commenter to this post, at Volokh, in response to the Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. New London which holds, as I most likely misunderstand it, that "eminent domain" - which we thought allowed government to forcibly acquire private property only in order to achieve some higher public good (roads, railways, baseball stadia) - that eminent domain now permits local governments to strip you of your private property to allow some private developer to make more money out of it.

Everybody needs Health Spas, don't they?

This is a filthy decision, to my mind, following closely on the heels of Raich, which overruled medical marijuana laws passed by the State of California, another bad decision - again to my West Coast liberaltarian mind.

But it should not be surprising. Here, even on the fringe of Los Angeles, stories still sound about Chavez Ravine - when in the 1950's the City of Los Angeles displaced thousands of poor mexican-american families in order to build Dodger Stadium, and Police Academy I. Yes - that one.

How funny that the 'Ravine pushed itself into my consciousness just the other day. Strange too that I'd heard the legend of Chavez Ravine long, long before I ever made it to Dodger Stadium itself. There have been stories running lately, down in the bowels of local LA government, that rules should be changed in revenge: that so-called "rich" communities should be targeted first by the eminent domain of the future. Hell, they can do anything they want, it seems. What a gift, what a weapon to hand the outraged social engineers. Thank Whoever that I live in Ventura County.

What a world, indeed. I blame Bush, of course, and those who voted for him. But then I would. Karl Rove was on TV this morning, on the local news, pontificating differences between "conservatives" and "libruhls": conservatives saw 9/11 as an attack, and went to war; liberals - caring libruhls - saw it as a cry for help, and wanted to sit down with the bad mens and see what they could do to make them happy and be nice, and lead fulfilling lives. Some crap like that. Conservatives may indeed have gone to war against Terror, but that ain't you, bub. You and your Bushie crew saw 9/11 as an opportunity, a gift with which to deflect our attentions from what you were doing at home, from your utter incompetence. Rather more concerned you are with plundering Social Security surpluses and getting the fuck away with it. With establishing an aristocracy of spoiled rich boys who can run through life wasting everyone's money but their tax-exempted own. Building Health Spas and Country Clubs.

Pass an ammendment to the hallowed Constitution, to make burning Old Glory a capital Offense. How many times have they tried this? Is it like the perennial "bring back hanging" debates in UK parliaments, which always mean "bring back conservative votes"? A mote in the eye if ever there was.

Please ignore. It was either that, or I should bore you again with tedious and vulgar medical litanies. Nobody needs that.