Driving While Paulbearing?
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Oh to be young and idealistic:
Misinformed because, as bona fide libertarians who actually listen to what Ron Paul says and who actually read what he writes know full well, under Paul's neoconfederalist, anti-libertarian, the-Fourteenth-Amendment-isn't-really-the-Constitution worldview, young Mr. Hauer would have exactly zero First Amendment rights to protect him from a duly enacted state law.
To Paul, if it doesn't come from Congress (or the Fed), then it can't be illegal. To Paul, the focus — the obsession — is not with individual rights but with "states rights."
Under the Ron Paul view of state-and-local majoritarianism, Minnesota is perfectly within its rights — its states rights — to ban political posters in vehicles. Not just for content-neutral safety reasons, mind you, but for any reason or no reason at all. The state could pass content-specific bans (e.g., no political posters, or no posters except Bible passages), or for that matter person-specific bans (e.g., you must over 21 to display posters, or perhaps limit it to U.S. citizens driving domestically produced automobiles).
And cars would be just the beginning. If states have "rights," then those rights would include censoring political speech on your lawn, your window, your roof. Not to mention your blog or Facebook page.
They could ban you from wearing a Ron Paul button at school, or even from discussing Ron Paul at school (especially during those mandatory school prayers that the school board just ratified).
And if you're gay, there will be no Ron Paul placards at your wedding — because you won't have a wedding. But at least the bigotry didn't come from Congress, so you're okay with it.
And don't forget that, in Paultopia, federal courts would be unavailable to you when you bump into any of these "states rights." Their jurisdiction to hear cases like yours would have been stripped long ago.
And so on.
Ron Paul has a message on his car window too. Make sure you see it.
Tag: Cody Hauer
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Meanwhile, young Mr. Hauer's dreams are dead.
An 18-year-old Republican's enthusiasm for presidential hopeful Ron Paul could cost him more than $550.Wait, did I say "young and idealistic"? Sorry, I meant "young and misinformed."
Cody Hauer has been cited four times in one week for displaying a 13-inch-by-40-inch "Ron Paul Revolution" decal in the rear window of his car. The problem is that such decals are illegal if they obstruct the driver's view.
...
Hauer said he'll argue in court that the law violates his First Amendment right to free speech.
Misinformed because, as bona fide libertarians who actually listen to what Ron Paul says and who actually read what he writes know full well, under Paul's neoconfederalist, anti-libertarian, the-Fourteenth-Amendment-isn't-really-the-Constitution worldview, young Mr. Hauer would have exactly zero First Amendment rights to protect him from a duly enacted state law.
To Paul, if it doesn't come from Congress (or the Fed), then it can't be illegal. To Paul, the focus — the obsession — is not with individual rights but with "states rights."
Under the Ron Paul view of state-and-local majoritarianism, Minnesota is perfectly within its rights — its states rights — to ban political posters in vehicles. Not just for content-neutral safety reasons, mind you, but for any reason or no reason at all. The state could pass content-specific bans (e.g., no political posters, or no posters except Bible passages), or for that matter person-specific bans (e.g., you must over 21 to display posters, or perhaps limit it to U.S. citizens driving domestically produced automobiles).
And cars would be just the beginning. If states have "rights," then those rights would include censoring political speech on your lawn, your window, your roof. Not to mention your blog or Facebook page.
They could ban you from wearing a Ron Paul button at school, or even from discussing Ron Paul at school (especially during those mandatory school prayers that the school board just ratified).
And if you're gay, there will be no Ron Paul placards at your wedding — because you won't have a wedding. But at least the bigotry didn't come from Congress, so you're okay with it.
And don't forget that, in Paultopia, federal courts would be unavailable to you when you bump into any of these "states rights." Their jurisdiction to hear cases like yours would have been stripped long ago.
And so on.
Ron Paul has a message on his car window too. Make sure you see it.
Tag: Cody Hauer
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Meanwhile, young Mr. Hauer's dreams are dead.
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Posted by Kip on
9 February 2008
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