Thursday, January 9, 2014

The Tyranny of the Minority


That phrase was usually stated as a “tyranny of the majority”, whereby, let’s take our Constitution as an example, laws were put in place, by our founding fathers, that prevented the majority from running roughshod over the minority. Sections of our Constitution like freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and separation of powers, were included to thwart the majority from imposing their will unreasonably on the minority.

Well, today the tables have turned. It is the “minority” that is trying (and succeeding in some cases) to impose their will on the majority. A well organized and financially secure cabal of far-left special interest groups like GLAAD (a militant gay rights group), the pro-marijuana and drug legalization advocates, and the anti-gun lobby, have marshaled their forces to affect change (a good example, in my opinion, of “defining deviancy down”).

The most militant and well-funded gay groups are GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, and Transgender), GLAAD, and Human Rights Watch, organizations, representing approximately 2% of the population. They have a formidable influence in government, Hollywood, and the main stream media. Over the past few years, they have been successful in changing the laws, in about 18 states, to accept gay marriage. Most were changed by judicial fiat (mostly far-left liberal judges) and legislative action, not by citizen referendum. Anybody who opposes these militant gay groups do so at their own peril. For a group that preaches tolerance for their lifestyle, they are very intolerant of others who oppose their agenda. A recent case in point is the flack over the “Duck Dynasty” show on the A&E network. The patriarch of the family, Phil Robertson, made some remarks denouncing homosexuality, and immediately the group GLAAD demanded his firing, which the A&E network did with all alacrity. The blow-back against the actions of the A&E network is already beginning, mainly by Conservative groups.

Also, the pro-legalization of marijuana group has been pushing for a Florida State Constitutional Amendment change to permit medical marijuana, knowing that that is the foot in the door for future legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Most everybody agrees that marijuana use by sick and terminally ill people, should be made available to them, but the pro-drug groups see this, not as a health issue, but as an opening to get drug use approved for everyone, including, in some cases, hard drugs.

The other minority group, the anti-gun lobby, is also well financed and uses emotional appeals to gin up support for their cause. Every time a mass shooting occurs they trot out the same emotion-laden appeals to ban guns. They blame the people, who abide by the gun laws and the N.R.A. (National Rifle Association), for the carnage done by some deranged individual(s). It doesn’t matter to these anti-gun fanatics, that it is the criminal that should be stopped and not the law abiding citizens who want and need guns for their own protection and for purposes of hunting. Most polls show that most citizens do not want guns banned, but the well-funded and vocal minority have gotten some states and municipalities to pass strict gun control laws. Many of those cities that have the highest rate of gun crimes are cities with the strictest gun laws. How does that grab you?

All the areas of concern mentioned above are areas of concern mainly espoused by a minority of citizens, not the majority of citizens, so you could say that we have a form of “tyranny of the minority” doing what our constitution originally provided for to curtail, the “tyranny of the majority”. How ironic is that?

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann


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1 comment:

Frank Parenti said...

A few weeks ago, Chuck wrote an editorial using the phrase "Defining Deviancy Down", well we see it in action today in many aspects of our lives. The main stream media is going gangbusters in pushing gay marriage, gun control, and global warming - all bogus issues compared to our disastrous foreign policy, Obamacare, and our jobless economic recovery. Are the liberals using these other non-issues to divert attention away from Obama's failure to lead our country in the proper direction? I get the uneasy feeling that is the case.