Posted by
Rilaly on Wednesday, July 08, 2009 12:00:00 AM
Does dependence on the state extend to local courts? A recent broadcast on the Rush Limbaugh show guest hosted by Mark Belling had the host saying that the courts are used too often to settle disputes. Belling stated that this details our dependence on the state. I’m confused.
A liberal friend of mine and I had a debate a couple years ago about the George W. Bush policy regarding the detainment of prisoners without proper jurisprudence. My argument to that was that those who are held without proper jurisprudence were deemed terrorists. His question was ‘who determines what a terrorist is?’ This debate was largely in the theoretical, until my liberal friend personalized it by saying that a friend of his was held for years without trial. He said that the guy had dreadlocks and he was a Muslim, Jamaican. This, of course, is the liberal tactic of trying to take the argument out of the theoretical. Was it a fib? Of course. He was trying to construct a red herring argument that focused on the Muslim Jamaican rather than the larger issue of laws for the masses versus those of the individual.
“Tell your friend to sue the government,” I said. “Matters, such as these, that are exceptions to the rule (i.e. anecdotal evidence) need to be taken to the courts on a case by case basis. The federal government cannot decide how to govern on matters both domestic and foreign, based upon the circumstances of every individual. This would cause chaos and no government would be able to operate under those constraints.”
I’m not sure if my friend did not give this matter the proper amount of thought, or if he chaos in the Bush presidency was exactly what he wanted, but my answer provoked no further responses.
My question to my conservative brethren is if such a scenario were to happen, how should a good conservative handle it? If the prevailing wisdom among conservatives is, as Belling believes, that even going to the courts suggests state dependence how does one achieve justice against a federal law that harms him in an individual manner?