"For this I Froze at Valley Forge?"

If George Washington was alive today, we're not sure exactly what he'd say about the Supreme Court decision that came down this week. We do know he wouldn't tell a lie. But based upon the way he felt about Mount Vernon ("I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.") and the warnings he gave us ("Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it."), we're pretty sure he'd be on Fox News giving us some basic civics lessons. On June 23 the liberal wing of the Supreme Court traded their black robes for cheesy gold blazers and pounded a "For Sale" sign into every lawn in America. In a stunningly stupid decision (Kelo et al v. City of New London, 04-108), the Supremes gave local governments broad power to seize private property in order to generate more tax revenue. The 5-4 squeaker was carried by the usual cast of "living Constitution" dimbulbs: Souter, Stevens, Breyer and Ginsburg. They were joined by Ronald Reagan's second bad seed, Anthony Kennedy (the first was Ron Jr.). Thanks to these geriatric judicial jackasses, a developer can dupe or bribe a city council member (now, there's a tough putt) into holding a couple of sham hearings where he can state a case for bulldozing Grandma's house, making way for the best 7-11 ever. If the developer "promises" to sell enough Slurpees, smokes and super-unleaded (and hire enough unmotivated people) to generate more taxes for the city, ol' Grandma will soon be sleeping in your basement, bitching about your food and tying up your best TV with her game shows...."Hard cheese for you and Grandma." It may not have been the headline, but it was certainly the message. While the decision in Kelo v. New London outraged editors of papers and other thoughtful people across the nation, across party lines and of many political positions, here's what THE NEW YORK TIMES ("the paper of record") put on-the-record in a June 24 editorial: "The Supreme Court's ruling yesterday that the economically troubled city of New London, Conn., can use its power of eminent domain to spur development was a welcome vindication of cities' ability to act in the public interest." Let's put the Gucci on the other foot for these people. TIMES heir-chairman-publisher (but mostly heir) "Pinch" Sulzberger no doubt has a retreat in The Hamptons with all the other beautiful elite. I believe that a beachfront "Cabela's" outdoor superstore would do very well in The Hamptons. I can make a case that a "Cabela's" will raise many more tax dollars for the community than are paid by the putz publisher. More taxes "serves the public interest" according to the high court. Unfortunately, we will have to raze Pinch's place in order to make room for the store. Pinch will just have to live in one of his other houses (perhaps in New London). We can only hope there's room left for Grandma to live in a small trailer on the beach behind the store.... Smart People Say Smart Things. No, I'm not talking about Karl Rove (though he's pretty smart and it was fun to watch the whacky among us wiggle and whine when Rove drew attention to their own words and actions). I'm talking about founding father Thomas Jefferson, our 3rd President (and a "liberal" long before the term became a label for the mentally ill). Jefferson left us sage advice as we keep our eyes on the Supreme Court, the White House, Senate, House of Representatives and now, unfortunately, every city council member in fifty states: "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Does anyone think Jefferson would have quietly moved into a condo while the Charlottesville City Council put a WalMart on top of Monticello?