Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
The video snippet of Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. giving a speech on the floor of Congress in which he asserts that by amending the Constitution the nation's job ills might be cured is instructive. It is, first and foremost, an ideal example of Unintentional Comedy and how it can brighten an otherwise cloud-covered day. It is also incredibly revealing as to what Rep. Jackson - and presumably many of his liberal colleagues and contemporaries - believes is the nature of rights. Where a conservative philosophy would endorse the idea that rights are self-evident and need to be preserved, this liberal philosophy believes they can only be bestowed.
This video appears to be edited to a significant degree. That said, the basics of the Congressman's statements seem to be able to overcome any crude slice and dice job in Final Cut Pro.
- Comment (14)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (1)
Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
He makes Charlie Sheen seem lucid by comparison.
Jun '10
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
If he was wearing a wizard hat and holding a magic wand, it would actually give his argument more credibility. Looks like Sr. taught Jr. well.
Jul '10
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
But where's the famous Jackson rhyming?
It's not the veins in your brains
It's the drains on the trains...
Sep '10
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
Wow! Just... Wow!
It's like, well, you know, the Constitution has these, like, magically awesome powers and can, you know, like, just create things - well, you know, good things, like jobs and stuff.
Feb '11
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
Sounds like he's talking about FDR's Economic Bill of Rights. As part of that, FDR also proposed a "right" to leisure. Of course he didn't specify how much leisure one would be entitled to. How many slackers would such a right create?
How many doctors/houses/student iPods, would these rights create? Who can say for sure; but all that's necessary to realize them, once the several germane constitutional amendments pass their passage-ordeal, is for the necessary funding to be procured from taxpayers. Of course, we'd need to set up new bureaucracies to distribute the goods and services. No problema, for pols of the Jackson type.
One might point him to the 9th and 10th Amendments. The Founders did the best they could on short notice, in the context of the regional/North-South conflicts already evident. But it's not perfect; if it were, we'd not be in this monumental, largely self-induced debt crisis. Rep Jackson is just speaking from within the dominant trend of interpretation: the government's role is to make the lives of the citizens better. If we have to bestow new rights, fine. Make it so, Jackson!
Mar '11
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
This is just out-and-out socialism. Nothing more, or less. FDR's Economic Bill of Rights was just a tepid attempt at putting us up to speed with vanguard nations, like the USSR.
Read the UN Universal Charter of Human Rights. Half of it is about so-called economic rights. Why is that, do you think?
What Rep Jackson is missing is that, yes, the state can bestow these rights on its citizens but that's when they stop being citizens and start being slaves of the state. He says you get a lot of rights as a slave.
You get the right to be free of hunger. So here's your kilo of lentils and rice. Still hungry? You must be some kind of saboteur.
You get the right to an education. So start memorizing the words of our great leader. Still curious? Want even more knowledge? You must be a Zionist spy!
You get the right to a roof over your head. Here's a place for you and your family that we stole off some Zionist spies.
Do people really listen to anything this guy has to say? Well [extreme expletive]! They deserve each other.
Mar '11
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
Funny! Thank you!
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
Jonesness!!! So happy to see you here. Welcome, sir.
This man and his ideology are absurd.
Oct '10
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
So, Jimminy Cricket is now a member of congress. When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, blah, blah, blah. To quote Thomas Jefferson “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.”
Thanks for the reminder Jesse Jr., or is it Jimminy?
Jan '11
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
If the Chinese are willing to fund it in perpetuity, fine with me. I'm sure the workin' guys and gals there screwing heads on dolls 18 hours a day six days a week have no problem with it.
Jan '11
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
A need is not a right. If you need housing, that's why you get a job and work hard.
Oct '10
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
KC Mulville, in theory, housing is supposed to be one of the three methods of redistributing wealth that actually works (education, healthcare, housing). Unfortunately, practice has shown it does not; nations with rights to housing suffer massive housing shortages.
I've not watched the video (my stomach feels too queasy to listen to sleezy left-wingers today) but I imagine it's the "we deserve this! thus, we need rulers to make it happen!" nonsense that occasionally spills forth from the left.
Erik Larsen, I've been wondering about that too. Normally, the Chinese would be exploiting us, not the other way around--but will we actually pay any of that debt back (and refrain from inflating it away)? There's something obscene about stealing the life savings of poor people in other countries.
Mar '11
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
Ms. Ellis, I hope that I am not "this man" in your post. And of course, happy to be here!
May '10
Re: Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the Power to Bestow Rights
Can't say it much better than that. I'm sorry to have to use this word, but Jesse Jackson, Jr. is an economic ignoramus. A believer in fairy tales. If you just wish for it hard enough, and BELEEEEVE, (and pass an amendment to the Constitution just for good measure), it will be conjured into existence!