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Justice Janice Rogers Brown

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Since Fox News and the talk-media are talking about the confirmation of Brown and Owens non-stop, I thought I'd investigate the issue a bit. I found these quotes after a quick search, notably on Factcheck.org and Discourse.net.

Brown: My grandparents’generation thought being on the government dole was disgraceful, a blight on the family’s honor. Today’s senior citizens blithely cannibalize their grandchildren because they have a right to get as much “free” stuff as the political system will permit them to extract.

She's right. The Baby Boomers will be collecting social security soon, which is nothing but a transfer program where wealth is transfered from people that work, to people that don't work. This generation of Baby Boomers can solve the social security problem once and for all: by leveraging their political power to destroy the system for the welfare of their children and grandchildren. But, because they are short-sighted and do not see the immorality and impracticality of the system, they will drive the younger workers of this country into slavery.

Brown: Writing 50 years ago, F.A. Hayek warned us that a centrally planned economy is “The Road to Serfdom.” He was right, of course; but the intervening years have shown us that there are many other roads to serfdom. In fact, it now appears that human nature is so constituted that, as in the days of empire all roads led to Rome; in the heyday of liberal democracy, all roads lead to slavery. And we no longer find slavery abhorrent. We embrace it. We demand more. Big government is not just the opiate of the masses. It is the opiate. The drug of choice for multinational corporations and single moms; for regulated industries and rugged Midwestern farmers and militant senior citizens. -- It is my thesis today that the sheer tenacity of the collectivist impulse — whether you call it socialism or communism or altruism — has changed not only the meaning of our words, but the meaning of the Constitution, and the character of our people.

Never have I heard from someone outside the O'ist/classical liberal circle linking altruism with socialism and collectivism. She understands that it's selflessness, "other-ism" and the annihilation of the individual that enables collectivism to exist. Not only that, but she labels big government as a drug to which the people demand more and more of it. We don't care whom we enslave, as long as we get our social security, prescription drugs, subsides, etc.

Justice Janice Rogers Brown has my support, even if she is a conservative. We need more like her on the bench to ensure freedom. Even without looking into the cases she has ruled on, if she applies these principles consistantly from the bench I can find no reason to oppose her. The Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to prevent her confirmation because she links socialism to big government and big government to enslavement.

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I heard some comments of hers from a couple of speeches on the radio Wednesday ... read by Rush Limbaugh of all people. I have to say that eveything I heard was consistent with Objectivist principles.

I'm going to do some research on her ...

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It is my thesis today that the sheer tenacity of the collectivist impulse — whether you call it socialism or communism or altruism — has changed not only the meaning of our words, but the meaning of the Constitution, and the character of our people.

Amazing. The connection between collectivism, socialism and altruism is Ayn Rand through and through. She's likely an admirer. Remember, Clarence Thomas was somewhat influnenced by Ayn Rand himself, and it was brought up, indirectly, during his confirmation hearings.

Excellent posting!

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I heard some comments of hers from a couple of speeches on the radio Wednesday ... read by Rush Limbaugh of all people. I have to say that eveything I heard was consistent with Objectivist principles.

Perhaps not anything with Objectivist principles, but she seems to make a good deal of sence for someone considered to be a "conservative". Look at the opposition from the Democrats! There's something they are deeply afraid of - Senator Harry Reid even cited the quotes about how Brown called the New Deal America's Socialist Revolution. Honestly, I'm suprised she has support from the Republicans although perhaps race has something to do with it (attempting to look "Black-friendly", although I don't know.. I wouldn't make the charge).

The thing that's killing me is the Republicans aren't steping up and saying "SHE'S RIGHT!" because some of the quotes I've found go against what they believe as well. Senator Frist, for example, didn't defend Justice Brown but rather gave us a history lesson on filibusters and judges.

Here's a link to a liberal site People for the American Way: http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=12751

There's a bunch of quotes you can read. Although she may not be an Objectivist and is a conservative, I think there is a time where you have to support those that defend property rights, speak out against socialism and defend natural law. Again, there's a reason why the pro-socialist Democrats oppose her so much.

Some quotes that O'ists would like:

I have argued that collectivism was (and is) fundamentally incompatible with the vision that undergirded this country’s founding. The New Deal, however, inoculated the federal Constitution with a kind of underground collectivist mentality. The Constitution itself was transmuted into a significantly different document...1937...marks the triumph of our own socialist revolution..

In the New Deal/Great Society era, a rule that was the polar opposite of the classical era of American law reigned...Protection of property was a major casualty of the Revolution of 1937…Rights were reordered and property acquired a second class status...It thus became government’s job not to protect property but, rather, to regulate and redistribute it. And, the epic proportions of the disaster which has befallen millions of people during the ensuing decades has not altered our fervent commitment to statism.
Democracy and capitalism seem to have triumphed. But, appearances can be deceiving. Instead of celebrating capitalism’s virtues, we offer it grudging acceptance, contemptuous tolerance, but only for its capacity to feed the insatiable maw of socialism. We do not conclude that socialism suffers from a fundamental flaw. We conclude instead that its ends are worthy of any sacrifice – including our freedom….1937…marks the triumph of our own socialist revolution.

You can read others at the link above (interestingly, liberals are using those quotes against Justice Brown).

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Justice Janice Rogers Brown has my support, even if she is a conservative.  We need more like her on the bench to ensure freedom.  Even without looking into the cases she has ruled on, if she applies these principles consistantly from the bench I can find no reason to oppose her.  The Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to prevent her confirmation because she links socialism to big government and big government to enslavement.

I have several comments. First, so far in this thread, the people posting have emphasized the beliefs she holds that appear to be consistent with some Objectivist principles. What about other principles? Is she religious -- if so, that is a radical (fundamental) rejection of Objectivism. Further, does she look solely to reason -- or to faith as well? That too is an indication of what to expect.

Second, the main issue politically is not "big government." The size of government is irrelevant to the issue of statism versus individual rights. A government should be as big as it needs to be to do its proper job. The issue is: What is its proper job? Conservatives, who don't understand what it means to essentialize and to deal in principles, talk only about measurements -- "big government" -- as if a little cancer is okay, but watch out for Big Cancer!

After raising these caution flags, I can still say that I believe that when change for the good comes, it will come in mixed packages. Janice Brown, perhaps, is one such.

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I was alerted to Justice Janice Rogers Brown by today's TIA Daily e-mail. Here is a quote from her speech at the Federalist Society given in April of 2000:

"As John McGinnis persuasively argues: 'There is simply a mismatch between collectivism on any large and enduring scale and our evolved nature.' As Edward O. Wilson, the world's foremost expert on ants, remarked about Marxism, 'Wonderful theory. Wrong species.' Ayn Rand similarly attributes the collectivist impulse to what she calls the 'tribal view of man.' She notes, '[t]he American philosophy of the Rights of Man was never fully grasped by European intellectuals. Europe's predominant idea of emancipation consisted of changing the concept of man as a slave to the absolute state embodied by the king, to the concept of man as the slave of the absolute state as embodied by "the people"--i.e., switching from slavery to a tribal chieftain into slavery to the tribe.'"

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