A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

Indiana could use a Magna Carta Bill

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I haven’t checked for new bills in a few hours, so maybe it has been introduced, but someone who wants to return Indiana to the good old days, could model their legislation after New Hampshire’s HB 1580-2012

[All] bills and resolutions addressing individual rights or liberties shall include a direct quote from the Magna Carta which sets forth the article from which the individual right or liberty is derived.

A widow could have the right to remain in their husbands’ house for forty days after his death and even to remarry if she got permission of a lord whose lands she held.

At her husband’s death, a widow may have her marriage portion and inheritance at once and without trouble. She shall pay nothing for her dower, marriage portion, or any inheritance that she and her husband held jointly on the day of his death. She may remain in her husband’s house for forty days after his death, and within this period her dower shall be assigned to her. No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she wishes to remain without a husband. But she must give security that she will not marry without royal consent, if she holds her lands of the Crown, or without the consent of whatever other lord she may hold them of.

Underage heirs could have the right to interest-free loans from Jews.

If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt for so long as he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds his lands.

The right to standard measures for wine, ale, corn, dyed cloth, russett, and haberject. (But, only if those measurements are made in the London quarter or ells within the selvedges.)

There shall be standard measures of wine, ale, and corn (the London quarter), throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a standard width of dyed cloth, russett, and haberject, namely two ells within the selvedges. Weights are to be standardised similarly.

The right to be free of arrest or imprisonment on murder charges founded on a complaint by a woman that you killed someone other than her husband.

No one shall be arrested or imprisoned on the appeal of a woman for the death of any person except her husband.

We commonly credit the Magna Carta as a foundational source of rights; but mainly because it was the legal documentary beginning of the notion that the King couldn’t arbitrarily exercise his will. The notion that the scope of liberties end with that document is anachronistic and borders on the despotic.

But Everyone Else Was Doing It!

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As a parent, I expect to deal with the “but everyone else was doing it” defense. As a citizen of Indiana, I’m not sure that’s what I expect out of my Secretary of State.

Charlie White’s accusations against Evan Bayh remind me a little bit of the old joke where the motorist gets pulled over and protests to the officer, “I wasn’t speeding. But, I passed a few guys who were.” If I’m reading the news reports correctly, White is essentially saying, “these charges against me are bullshit, but Evan Bayh should be prosecuted for the same thing.”

This is probably one of those deals where you need to pick one strategy or another. Either say that the charges are frivolous or that everyone similarly situated should go down with you. Saying that frivolous charges should be made against everyone just doesn’t work so well.

Civic Education and Media Failure

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This AP article appearing in the Christian Science Monitor is an example of a missed opportunity for civic education.

While on Fox and Friends for some reason, Hank Williams Jr. made a comparison related to President Obama involving Hitler. The details of the comparison itself aren’t really that important. Pro tip for anyone near a microphone of some kind: unless your comparison involves a war of aggression, genocide, or other extremely literal comparison of Hitler, just look elsewhere for your metaphors. What if maybe your comparison is apt in some way? Doesn’t matter. Pick someone else in human history for your comparison. (Someone on the Internet suggested, “comparing Obama to Hitler is as ridiculous as comparing Hank Williams Jr. to his much, much more talented father.”)

But, that’s not what this post is about. As a consequence of his choice to use Hitler metaphors on television, ESPN decided to end its business relationship with Hank Jr. They no longer want to use him or his singing to introduce the Monday Night Football broadcast. Hank Jr. responded by saying that ESPN is violating his free speech rights.

“After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision,” Williams said in a statement to The Associated Press. “By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It’s been a great run.”

This, in and of itself, isn’t a huge deal. Lots of people who wrap themselves in the flag don’t actually know much about the country’s founding document. (See, e.g., The Onion: “Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To Be”)

The problem is that the First Amendment precludes government regulation of speech. It does not, contrary to what Hank Jr. seems to assert, guarantee the right to be lucratively compensated by a private entity for appearing on the entity’s television show regardless of what one says in other places.

The second problem is that it would have taken the AP very little space to point out that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution has no bearing on this situation. It would have been a factual observation, requiring no independent opinion, that the AP could have included without using a lot of space. It would have made Hank Jr. look foolish, of course. But that ought not be he AP’s concern. Another option for the AP would have been to not report on Hank Jr.’s mutterings about the Constitution at all.

Head for the Fainting Couches!

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Rep. Andre Carson said that the Tea Party is “protecting its millionaire and oil company friends while gutting critical services that they know protect the livelihood of African-Americans, as well as Latinos and other disadvantaged minorities.”

“This is the effort that we’re seeing of Jim Crow,” Carson said. “Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second-class citizens.”

“Some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me … hanging on a tree.”

Folks who likely never cared much for Rep. Carson in the first place are, pretty much on cue, hitting the ceiling, clutching their pearls, getting the vapors, and heading for the fainting couches.

Rep. Carson is alluding to the days of Jim Crow when, like it or not, lynching was a problem. Now, let’s start here: do Tea Partiers want to lynch black people? There might be a couple, but that’s probably about it.

So why might the allusion occur to Rep. Carson? Because he has an irrational need to tell lies about the Tea Party? I doubt it. I think it starts here: “We need to take our country back.”

Yet the speech that opened the Nashville event yesterday, an address greeted with whoops and cheers from the mainly white audience, reflects a movement that also appears to have a less attractive side to it.

Tom Tancredo, a former Republican congressman who ran for president in 2008 on an anti-illegal immigration platform, said of the voters who elected Mr Obama: “They could not even spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English and they put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House — Barack Hussein Obama!”

Decrying America’s multiculturalism, Mr Tancredo said that Republicans and Democrats had voted for a black man because they felt they had to. To a standing ovation, he shouted: “We really do have a culture to pass on to our children: it’s based on Judaeo-Christian values.”

“This is our country,” he declared. “Let’s take it back!” He added, to applause: “Cultures are not the same. Some are better. Ours is best!” The crowd, some wearing recently purchased T-shirts saying “Keep the change — I’ll keep my FREEDOM my GUNS and my MONEY”, loved it.

This is not isolated craziness from Tom Tancredo. “We need to take our country back” has been a drum beat. The question “back from whom” is rarely asked. But, President Obama is a committed socialist in the same universe where Tea Partiers are lynching black people. Somehow the socialism accusation doesn’t prompt the blood boiling pearl clutching that these Jim Crow allegations from Rep. Carson have.

Now, what must this “take the country back” business sound like to the part of the American population from whom the Tea Party wants to take the country back? What does “back” mean to them in historical terms? In some cases it’s lynching; in a lot of cases it’s a deprivation of civil rights.

But, when Matt Tully’s editors tell him to drop everything and go report on Rep. Carson’s “hanging from trees” comments; I’ll bet they’re not looking for a nuanced discussion. They’re looking for a story on how Rep. Carson has hurt the feelings of folks like Sen. Banks who is outraged and offended and, consequently, demanding an apology.

Perhaps it’s because I’m on the other side of the fence on (just to take an example — not seeking to describe the universe of topics where political rhetoric gets overheated) reproductive rights, but I don’t see this kind of push for political food-fight coverage every time a pro-life lawmaker refers to “baby killing.” In part, I think that’s because the Left doesn’t do outrage and taking offense nearly as effectively.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, all of this unpleasantness has left me quite unsettled.

HB 1097 – Halloween Enticement

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Rep. Walorski has introduced HB 1097 which won’t convince anyone to drop the “Wacky Jackie” tag anytime soon. It’s a hyper-specific piece of legislation that creates a new Class D felony which prohibits someone classified as an offender against children from “participating in Halloween” between 4 and 10 p.m. on October 31.

Participating in Halloween means handing out candy, turning on a porch light, or displaying a pumpkin.

So, if I have this straight, for 6 hours a year, turning on your light = felony.

I’m getting visions of sex offenders taking off work and rushing home in a panic because they forgot and left a pumpkin on their porch.

More Dispatches from the War on the War on Christmas

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I’m getting annoyed by the continued braying from those social conservatives who are in a panic over the “decline” of Christmas. The terrible threat they seek to fight is the menace of people being polite to strangers during the holiday season by saying something along the lines of “Happy Holidays” instead of the correct “Merry CHRISTmas.”

The latest installment (h/t Ed Brayton) comes from Rep. Henry Brown (R-S. Carolina “First in Treason”) and 74 Co-sponsors including Dan Burton, Mike Pence, and Mark Souder (but not, apparently, Steve Buyer), via H.Res 951. The Resolution expresses “strong disapproval” of attempts to ban references to Christmas. It does not describe any of the bans which so threaten Christmas.

However, by way of explanation, Rep. Brown offers this:

In an explanation of his resolution to the Christian Broadcast Network, Brown noted that, “we’re in a troubled world,” so “we can’t lose sight of our deep faith by some how or another diminishing the value of Christmas.”

The main threat to Christmas, Brown contents, is the use of the term “happy holidays” rather than an emphasis on “Christ and Christmas.” In an interview with Fox Business last week, Brown lashed out at the use of “happy holidays.”

Once again, this is a small but vocal subset of Christians who feel absolutely compelled to mark the public sector as their territory. It’s of a piece with the folks who demand Christian prayers to open legislative meetings, want the Ten Commandments and Nativity scenes on government property, and generally want to entwine their religion with public events. It’s not about their own individual relationship with God. Rather, it’s about trying to force a particular relationship between our society and God or at least ostentatiously display the primacy of their version of religion.

Adding to the annoyance is the apparent ignorance of the history of Christmas, drawing as it does upon the traditions of Saturnalia, Yule, and other solstice celebrations.

I know it gets them votes, but I’d sure be happier if politicians stayed out of the culture war nonsense. (Pigs flying will probably happen sooner.)

The Onion: Patriots Lead Colts at Halftime

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(H/t Chris Spangle and Josh Gillespie) The Onion gets in on the Patriots-love.

Patriots Lead Colts at Halftime

INDIANAPOLIS—At the time of this writing the New England Patriots, playing on the road against an undefeated Indianapolis team, are headed into halftime with an all-but-insurmountable 24-14 lead.

Barring an almost inconceivable and utterly out-of-character mistake by head coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots have virtually secured a week 10 win against their closest rivals for AFC dominance.

No Belichick-coached Patriots team has ever led by this much at halftime and gone on to lose the game.

“If we just keep playing smart Patriots football, I don’t see any reason why we won’t come out on top,” Belichick told reporters, jogging to the locker room with his team as the second-quarter clock expired. “The only time they’ve been able to stop us is on on short-yardage passing plays, so if we’re careful to execute and avoid any situation where we give Peyton Manning excellent field position, I’m extremely confident we’ll leave here with a ‘W.'”
. . .

Right to Arm Bears

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I’m a supporter of gun rights because it’s in the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution. I think it was reasonably believed by our Founders to be a necessary bulwark against the potential Tyranny of the governed by the government.

Having said that, idiots like Troy Brown of New Albany, Indiana make it difficult at times to respect the wisdom of our Founding Fathers.

Police say a man firing a rifle to celebrate the new year wounded a 13-year-old girl while she was inside her aunt and uncle’s home in New Albany.

Floyd County Sheriff Darrell Mills says 44-year-old Troy Brown fired at least a dozen rounds from an AR-15 rifle outside his home shortly after midnight on Thursday. Mills said at least three bullets went a couple hundred yards to the family’s home, with one hitting the girl’s leg and others hitting a television and the refrigerator.
. . .
His father, Leroy Brown, said the girl’s injury was a “freak accident” and that his son would not intentionally shoot anyone.

It’s only a “freak” accident if one is unfamiliar with the scientific concept known as “gravity.” If you’re firing a dozen rounds into the air, chances are a dozen rounds are going to return to earth traveling at high, potentially deadly velocities. But what do a bunch of egghead scientists and their fancy-pants gravity know about New Year’s celebratin’ anyway?

A child shall lead them

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So, “Meet the Press” is on the TV and my four year old boy looks up to see Tim Russert’s face. He immediately says “Ohhhh! He’s going to kill me!” Russert, my boy went on to explain had “an evil face, a wicked face.”