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Essays, Opinion, & Commentary |
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Something to Think About
by Gordon Francis Corbett
Associated Press reporter Nicholas K. Geranios hints that in the last election, one of the main issues in Boundary County, Idaho, was prosecutrix Denise Woodbury's decision to try F. B. I. Special Agent Lon T. Horiuchi for shooting Vicki Jordison Weaver. Geranios reports that the incident at Ruby Ridge hurt Boundary County by making it look like Neo-Nazi Headquarters, and that its people did not want Horiuchi's prosecution to make them even poorer. Therefore, Geranios hints, they replaced Woodbury with Brett Benson, who has announced that he will not prosecute Horiuchi. If Geranios' facts and hints are correct, "the people spoke," and their message said, "Stop!" Their decision illustrates the perils of the theory called, "democracy." Democracy says that we all own rights in common, whose nature and extent we determine at the polls. By that standard, again presuming Mr. Geranios' accuracy, the people of Boundary County decided that Vicki Weaver's right to live is superceded by their right to make a living. Therefore, as Lon Horiuchi's prosecution would have nothing to defend or redress, the people could eject Woodbury. Jeffersonian republicanism opposes democracy. It says that we inherit "natural unalienable rights" that no consensus can affect. By committing crimes, their owner can destroy them; but, as Vicki Weaver had neither been charged with a crime, nor had been determined to be endangering anyone, Horiuchi's shooting her constituted an intentional violation of her rights. Those rights outlived Vicki; and, when Denise Woodbury tried to obtain permission to prosecute Horiuchi, she was attempting to redress their violation. Brett Benson's election, and his decision not to prosecute Vicki Weaver's killer, prove that the choice between democracy and republicanism is not "academic." It is a choice between quicksand and bedrock. Which do you choose?
Enrich your life with a book about politics and current events... Enrich your political & social life with a politics or news magazine... |
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Something to Think About Index |
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