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Let Syria Play Out
May 7, 2013 | 6 comments
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Happy Birthday, Willie
April 30, 2013 | 10 comments
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George Jones RIP
April 26, 2013 | 7 comments
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Two-by-Four Did It for the Mule
April 17, 2013 | 2 comments
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Obama AWOL
April 17, 2013 | 8 comments
The Spectacle Blog
The question before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Obamacare and the infamous individual mandate could not be clearer, to wit: Is there any limit to what the government can command American citizens to do?
For once, the answer coming from the Supremes is also clear. The answer is no. There is nothing the government cannot oblige citizens (subjects?) to do.
The justices indulged in truly strange calisthenics to put this one through. A government order to citizens to buy health insurance or suffer the mailed fist of the federal government has morphed into a tax. A TAX! This is an Orwellian assault on language as well as on freedom and good sense.
Perhaps the most dispiriting part of this opinion is that it has also made clear that Chief Justice John Roberts has “grown in office” and has given the Left a huge hand up.
It’s a dark day for freedom-loving Americans. If this doesn’t animate the political Right, nothing will.
View all comments (4) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Larry Thornberry
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/06/28/open-season-on-citizens
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RCV| 6.28.12 @ 11:08AM
It is breathtaking to watch those on the right wring their hands this morning as if the sun had gone permanently down. The nonsense that is being spouted is pure silliness.
Ryan| 6.28.12 @ 11:55AM
I think Roberts made an overall poor decision, but his reasoning behind what he did (rather than the true left of the court) is a lot more sound. He basically calls a spade a spade here - a tax is a tax - and gave us a LOT more to work with politically to overturn it under several scenarios.
Bob S| 6.28.12 @ 5:16PM
Speaking of Orwellian assault on language, here is an essay Orwell wrote titled "Politics and the English Language":
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm
Orwell really was a visionary. He saw exactly how politicians can subvert language to bend anyone to their will, and he saw what it can lead to in 1984.
Interestingly enough, the first result for George Orwell when you search for him in Google is being reported as malware.