Mayors
Play Chicken with First Amendment Rights
Though it
would seem that Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's opinion that
marriage is an institution between one man and one woman is protected
by the Constitution's First Amendment, mayors in three cities have
vowed to punish this heresy.
Chicago
Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he “will do everything in my power to
prevent such a vile establishment from setting up shop in my city.
Mr. Cathy's values are not Chicago's values.”
In
addition to Cathy's views on marriage, Emanuel also found the
restaurant's policy of closing on Sunday's problematic, calling it
“an unacceptable 'holier than thou attitude.' People need to eat on
Sundays. Restaurants should be open to serve them. Besides, Sundays
aren't sacred to other religions. Jews revere Saturdays, Muslims
Fridays. By setting aside only Sundays, Mr. Cathy is discriminating
against other faiths.”
San
Francisco Mayor Ed Lee warned the restaurant to “not even think
about trying to open an outlet in our city.” Lee rebuffed criticism
that penalizing a business for exercising freedom of speech was
beyond his authority. “The Constitution says Congress shall make no
law prohibiting freedom of speech,” Lee pointed out. “It doesn't
say anything about mayors or city councils taking action to prevent
the spread of heinous beliefs.”
Boston
Mayor Tom Menino backed off from his promise to block any Chick-fil-A
franchises from setting up shop in the city. “It appears that I
have no say over who can and can't operate a business here,” Menino
acknowledged. “However, it appears we can regulate businesses.
Let's see how these purveyors of hate like having city inspectors
hound them on a daily basis.”
Menino's
strong stance against Chick-fil-A is a stark contrast to his
assisting the Islamic Society of Boston’s establishment of a mosque
in the city. This came despite the Islamic Society of Boston's Imam
Yusef al-Qaradawi's insistence that homosexuals be put to death.
“That's a freedom of religion issue,” Menino said. “As I
understand it, the Quran explicitly commands that homosexuals be put
to death. There is no language in the Christian Bible that explicitly
says they can't marry. Anyway, Chick-fil-A is a business, not a
church. It has no freedom of speech or religion rights per se.”
In related
news, the US Department of Justice rejected Hercules Industries
objections to being forced to cover abortions in the company's
self-insurance plan. “Freedom of religion is an individual right,
not a business right,” the DOJ wrote in its decision. “The
business owners may choose to believe whatever they want, but as a
business they must comply with the rules laid out by the Department
of Health and Human Services. If the business owners feel these rules
violate their beliefs they always have the option of exiting the
market.”
Mainstream
Media Accepts Government's Right to Censor News
A recent
New York Times article admitted that it, along with other
major “news” outlets, allows the White House to censor what it
publishes. The basic protocol is for the media to submit a draft of a
proposed piece to the White House for review prior to publication.
The White House then edits the piece and returns it.
“It can
be irksome at times,” Times reporter Jeremy Peters admitted.
“But what choice do we have? If we don't cooperate we'll be cut off
from access. And for what? It's not as if we aren't 100% behind the
Administration on virtually ever issue. It's better to think of it as
the kind of guidance a child gets from a parent. We may not like it,
but in the long run we realize it's in our best interest.”
Axelrod
Decries GOP Negative Campaign
Senior
Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod accused the GOP of running ads
that “cast a negative pall over the campaign.” Axelrod said he
had a particular beef over the use of the “you didn't build that”
quote.
“The GOP
is playing on the egotism and greed of every small businessman in
America,” Axelrod complained. “These self-centered twits
congratulate themselves on their brilliance and hard work, but the
fact of the matter is that the President is right on this issue.”
“The
business owner may think 'I took the risk,' or 'I put in the 14-hour
days' and conclude that he deserves the profit,” Axelrod
elaborated. “What he overlooks is that the government allows him
the freedom to take risk and to work hard when it could just as
easily take everything he has, as many governments throughout history
have done. Every atom used by every business was in existence long
before it opened its doors. Therefore, everything a business makes is
built from the common inheritance of humankind. All the President is
trying to do is ensure that the benefits of this common inheritance
are fairly distributed.”
Axelrod
dismissed recent polls showing that business owners prefer Romney to
Obama by a two-to-one margin. “Romney may capture the constituency
of the greedy, but we're far ahead with the constituency of the
needy,” he boasted. “Our figures show that among the far larger
cohort of those on food stamps the President enjoys a ten-to-one
margin of support.”
Pelosi
Says Pope Unqualified to Have an Opinion on Abortion
House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) demanded that Pope Benedict
XVI “stop meddling in America's health care debate.”
“It's a
question of experience and perspective,” Pelosi asserted. “I've
had five children. I know what it's like to bring a child into the
world. And so has every woman who's given birth. It's pure Hell.”
“On the
other hand, there's never been a female Pope,” Pelosi pointed out.
“No Pope has every had to suffer the pains of child birth. So, with
the Pope lacking this crucial life experience, why should we consider
his views on abortion sacrosanct when it is quite clear that he
doesn't have the qualifications to hold a meaningful opinion?”
In
Pelosi's view, “the decision on whether health insurance should be
required to cover abortions is one that ought to be reserved to those
capable of appreciating its impact. To paraphrase one of our greatest
presidents, it should be a the decision of the women, by the women,
and for the women.”
Administration
Defends Siccing Auditors on Political Opponents
Reports
that Romney donors may be subject to special audits by federal
agencies were brushed off as “no big deal” by Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner this past week. One targeted businessman, Frank
VanderSloot, says that since donating a million dollars to
presidential candidate Mitt Romney he has been notified by both the
IRS and the Department of Labor that they will be looking into his
records.
“I don't
know what VanderSloot is so worked up about,” Geithner said. “Using
federal agencies to put some heat on those opposing the President has
a long tradition in American politics. FDR did it. LBJ did it. Nixon
did it. You can't blame President Obama for exploiting every asset he
has to protect himself from his enemies.”
VanderSloot's
confidence that his company will pass the audits didn't faze
Geithner. “Either way, he still has to endure the burdens of
compliance,” Geithner observed. “That's extra time and money
coming out of his pocket. It also serves as an example to others who
might be contemplating aligning themselves with those trying to oust
the President from office.”
Massacre
Spawns Demands for Gun Control
The
massacre of a dozen movie-goers in Colorado has sparked another spate
of liberal demands for gun control.
University
of Colorado Professor Chad Kautzer has launched an online petition
aimed at banning “concealed carry laws.” While acknowledging that
such a ban might not have stopped James Holmes from shooting 70
people in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater, Kautzer insisted that
“the ability to add an illegal possession of a firearm charge to
the list of offenses for which he will be prosecuted would have a
deterrent effect.”
In New
York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested that police should go on
strike until everyone in America surrenders their guns to the
government. “Atrocities like this wouldn't happen if the police
were the only ones that had guns,” Bloomberg argued. “I know some
will characterize that as a veritable 'police state,' but you have to
admit that police states don't suffer from these kinds of crimes.”
Democrats
Vote against Bill They Sponsored
Eight
Democratic co-sponsors of the “Audit the Fed” bill ended up
voting against the measure. The unusual move was explained by
Representative Pete Stark (D-Calif): “Look, this bill was Ron
Paul's idea. We never expected the GOP leadership to allow it to come
to a vote. I mean, it's one thing to try to pose as a champion of
open government. It's another thing entirely to actually implement
it.”
President
Gains Another Endorsement
Ailing
Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez urged American voters to reelect
President Obama. “After all I've been through with the cancer and
chemo, it would really give me a boost to see this great man
reelected,” Chavez said. “”It's also the only way to ensure
that America's march toward a truly progressive future remains
uninterrupted.”
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