Infinite Monkeys

That's not a direct quote, it's my summary.... though the actual quote is pretty terrible, too.

The Left's positive reaction to Kelo probably should not be too surprising (nice of them to finally admit their disdain for property rights). What is surprising is that it is the homes of the poor and middle class that will be bulldozed to build marina's and ocean front housing for rich people and shopping malls. And - shudder - Wal-Mart.

And in a post from Rod Dreher at National Review's The Corner:

"I'll tell you why the Kelo ruling hits especially close to home this week. The other day, FBI agents raided the Dallas City Hall offices of two city council members, as well as the office of a rich and politically well-connected developer who has built lots of housing in their districts. The FBI is being quiet about what they were looking for, but news reports say it's part of a federal investigation into bribery and suchlike. Nobody has been charged -- yet, anyway -- but if the speculation proves out, this stands to be an infuriating example of what businessmen with money can get done when they have corrupt pols in their pocket. I know, I know, this stuff happens every day, all over the place. But the FBI raids on Dallas City Hall have been front page news here all week, and the nefarious potential connection between private and public power and corruption has been on everyone's mind here in Chinatown, I mean Big D. [Dallas]"

Not an original thought, but now while the Fourth Amendment protects our homes from searches, the Fifth no longer protects it from destruction. (I know, oversimplified.)

And the folks complaining about Kelo are the extremists?

I knew it wasn't an original thought of mine:

"The Court has elsewhere recognized “the overriding respect for the sanctity of the home that has been embedded in our traditions since the origins of the Republic,” … when the issue is only whether the government may search a home. Yet today the Court tells us that we are not to “second-guess the City’s considered judgments,”... when the issue is, instead, whether the government may take the infinitely more intrusive step of tearing down petitioners’ homes. Something has gone seriously awry with this Court’s interpretation of the Constitution. Though citizens are safe from the government in their homes, the homes themselves are not."

Justice Thomas, Dissent

I love the line from the New York Times about "It also is a setback to the 'property rights' movement."

Ah yes, that crazy, fringe, "property rights movement". People and their supposed "right to own property". Silly, silly private individuals!