As I’ve commented before, the dual concept “liberty and justice for all” doesn’t get a lot of play in right-wing circles. Not only are teabaggers preoccupied with the former, the latter has come under suspicion by Beck and his minions. Now I’m reading about the latest efforts by the wife of Clarence Thomas to serve as an advocate for “liberty-loving citizens” and “ambassador to the Tea Party movement” via a trio of organizations that sport “liberty” in their titles: Liberty Consulting, Liberty Central, libertyinc.
Listen, folks, I’m not knocking liberty. It’s a wonderful concept; I’m all for it and think we should have more of it. But why is it that justice doesn’t get equal time? Maybe it’s because of conservatives’ short attention span.
When you read the Declaration of Independence, it’s easy to get caught up in an expression like “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” that comes near the beginning. I suspect, however, that many people are so enamored of this phrase that they don’t bother reading on.
As it turns out, that’s the only mention of “liberty” in the whole document. But when it gets down to brass tacks, “justice” is cited three times: the signers’ complaint that King George “has obstructed the Administration of Justice” and the statement “We have appealed to [our British brethren’s] native justice” but they “have been deaf to the voice of justice.”
It’s clear that the Founders were as much concerned with justice as with liberty. And I suspect they would have roundly approved the wording “liberty and justice for all” in the Pledge. The irony is, “justice” has become a cause identified with oppressed people – the “Them” that stands opposite most citizens’ conception of “Us.” It’s as if l&j had to be divvied up; and since blacks, Indians, laborers, migrant farm workers, the poor, you name it, have usually been associated with cries for justice, upstanding Americans have opted for liberty as their cause. “Deaf to the voice of justice” indeed.
Now if there were only some way of convincing our politically fundamentalist citizens that justice – justice for all, including anyone fucked over by the law, by the courts, by the wealthy, by banks, by corporate shenanigans, by any person or entity unfairly granted privilege – is nothing to shy away from. Come on, teabaggers, it’s a two-edged sword.
Listen, folks, I’m not knocking liberty. It’s a wonderful concept; I’m all for it and think we should have more of it. But why is it that justice doesn’t get equal time? Maybe it’s because of conservatives’ short attention span.
When you read the Declaration of Independence, it’s easy to get caught up in an expression like “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” that comes near the beginning. I suspect, however, that many people are so enamored of this phrase that they don’t bother reading on.
As it turns out, that’s the only mention of “liberty” in the whole document. But when it gets down to brass tacks, “justice” is cited three times: the signers’ complaint that King George “has obstructed the Administration of Justice” and the statement “We have appealed to [our British brethren’s] native justice” but they “have been deaf to the voice of justice.”
It’s clear that the Founders were as much concerned with justice as with liberty. And I suspect they would have roundly approved the wording “liberty and justice for all” in the Pledge. The irony is, “justice” has become a cause identified with oppressed people – the “Them” that stands opposite most citizens’ conception of “Us.” It’s as if l&j had to be divvied up; and since blacks, Indians, laborers, migrant farm workers, the poor, you name it, have usually been associated with cries for justice, upstanding Americans have opted for liberty as their cause. “Deaf to the voice of justice” indeed.
Now if there were only some way of convincing our politically fundamentalist citizens that justice – justice for all, including anyone fucked over by the law, by the courts, by the wealthy, by banks, by corporate shenanigans, by any person or entity unfairly granted privilege – is nothing to shy away from. Come on, teabaggers, it’s a two-edged sword.
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