Lens of Liberty

Everything you need to know about this year’s midterm elections.On this week’s special edition of Liberty Nation Radio, we tackle who’s on top in the run-up to the midterms, what’s happening with minority voters, and make some bold predictions.Seg 1 – Midterm Voters Not Feeling the Democrat Love – with Tim Donner and Graham J. NobleSeg 2 – Midterm Predictions and Beyond – with Tim Donner and Graham J. NobleSeg 3 – Midterm Elections – The Minority Report – with Jeff Charles and Sarah CowgillSeg 4 - Clarence Thomas Scuttles the Affirmative Action Ship – with Scott D. Cosenza

Thousands of charities, from international organizations to local churches, raisemoney through silent-auctions, often featuring gift baskets donated by supporters.Those gift baskets frequently include bottles of wine, beer, or other spirited prizes.But it turns out that in many States the liquor laws prohibit such gift baskets,especially in places like churches or community centers that have no liquor license– even if the bottles remain unopened. The legislature in one state, Colorado, isabout to repeal that old law, and leave charitable fund-raisers free to do their bestfor their good causes. Many of these legislators have looked through the lens ofliberty, and realized that fund-raising strategies of non-profit organizations are notthe government’s business. But many states still require permits and fees for suchevents. If your State is one of them, it’s time for you to act.

A couple I know was sitting in their hot tub, in the privacy of their secluded backyard, when suddenly a man with a clipboard came wandering onto their patio,looking around and taking notes. They asked what he was doing, and he identifiedhimself as an inspector from the Homeowner’s Association. He claimed the rightto go anywhere on any property, with or without the owner’s permission, anytimehe wants. But these homeowners look through the lens of liberty, and theyunderstand their right to privacy, enshrined in the Bill of Rights. They know that inAmerica, all governments – including local homeowners associations – only getpower from the consent of the governed. If your right to privacy doesn’t matter toyou, it certainly doesn’t matter to anyone else – what have you allowed in yourneighborhood?

A friend, struggling to make ends meet, found that he could rent his spare room bythe night, and earn a nice supplemental income. But he also found out there arerules about competing with hotels. Cities from New York to Denver have startedadopting rules to stop such practices – not because there is any danger to publicsafety, but because Air B-n- B has become serious competition for hotels, just asUber competes with taxis. Many tourists enjoy staying at bed-and- breakfasts, andtraveling is a different experience when you get to know your hosts, in theirhomes. We understand why hotel chains may be threatened by such competition,but a look through the lens of liberty tell us this is not the government’s business.Such favoritism limits your choices, but if you don’t defend your right to staywherever you want, who will?

Many of us share great memories of eating ice cream in the park, one of the greatpleasures of summer. But we’ll have no more of that in Boulder, Colorado. Thecity has now banned ice cream as an option for vendors in all the local parks.That’s because the ice cream bars that were being sold come in larger sizes, andhave higher sugar and fat content, than is allowed under the City’s latest nutritionguidelines. Those rules apply to all ice cream, but also to nuts, chips, packagedfruits, cereal, cookies, pudding, and all other snacks. Should city governments evenhave rules for such things, or should we all look through the lens of liberty, andinsist that such regulations be withdrawn? We can decide for ourselves when andwhere we want to enjoy ice cream.

New York is famous as the “city that never sleeps,” but be careful what you do afterhours. There are 26,000 bars and restaurants in New York City, but if you enjoylive music, singing, or dancing, you could be breaking the law. That’s because aProhibition-era law still forbids three or more people from dancing, anyplacewhere there is “musical entertainment.” Any exceptions require an expensive city-issued license that very few businesses actually have. Instead of looking throughthe lens of liberty, city officials still go to court to defend that old “cabaret law.”In one recent case, they argued that “there is no protected First Amendment rightof expression to engage in recreational dancing.” We should tell our officials theyhave no right to regulate us, if we want to dance the night away.

I see protests on TV and sometimes wonder if the demonstrators even understandwhat they’re protesting. Now, a report by the National Association of Scholars,says many university courses aimed at understanding the American system, havebeen replaced by vocational classes on how to undermine it. Instead of teaching thefoundations of constitutional law, individual freedom, and self-government, thesenew courses now teach how to organize protests, occupy buildings, and stagedemonstrations. Americans citizens have always enjoyed the right to protestpolicies with which they disagree. But looking through the lens of liberty is avital first step, in understanding the very system that guarantees the right to protest.Without that basic understanding of our founding principles, students are actuallybeing cheated of the opportunity to be full participants in our republic. Theyshould protest that!

On Halloween, thousands of college students attend costume parties, the bizarreattire being part of the fun. But this year they found the “PC police” in charge oncampuses across America. One university said it didn’t matter if students admiredPocahontas, or if Prince was their favorite singer – minority students were allowedto wear such costumes, but white students could not. Desperate to avoid offendinganyone, dozens of colleges posted such rules. One advises against “traditional headwear from other cultures,” while many others simply tell students not to wearcostumes representing a culture that is not their own. Well, that certainlyeliminates devils, witches, ghosts, and superheroes. Maybe we should lookthrough the lens of liberty, and realize that making everyone dress up asthemselves would be a mean trick, not a treat.

A woman in Philadelphia, having an argument with her boyfriend in a restaurant,got so angry she threw a soft drink at him. Then, as she was storming away, sheslipped on the wet floor and broke her tailbone. Never mind that the floor was wetbecause of the drink she herself had thrown, she was still so angry she decided tosue. She did not sue the boyfriend, because he didn’t have any money. She suedthe restaurant for having a wet floor. A jury ordered the restaurant to pay her$113,000. Her medical bills were real, of course, but does that make the businessowner responsible? Looking through the lens of liberty, if we see any law-abiding citizen being held liable for the bad behavior of another, it ought to makeus all angry enough to do something about it.

Our Constitution does not guarantee the right to break into someone’s house. Yet aburglar in Bristol, Pennsylvania thought he had that right, and a jury agreed! Hebroke into a home, but got locked in the garage trying to escape. With no way outand the homeowners away, he spent 8 days in that garage, surviving on a case ofPepsi and a large bag of dog food, until the homeowners returned, and calledpolice. He claimed because the garage door opener didn’t work, he had sufferedundue mental anguish, and sued the homeowners’ insurance company. Shockingly,the jury sided with him, and made the insurance company pay him $500,000 for hisordeal. We should all look through the lens of liberty and remember theimportance of personal responsibility, especially before we serve on juries.