Fri, June 24, 2005
Eminent Domain—2:27 PM
I've been pretty chilled by this Supreme Court ruling about eminent domain. Well, as chilled as one can be when all he knows about it has been gleaned from one-sentence summaries on dozens of blogs. It doesn't seem in the spirit of the law to say that the Gubmint can just decide that what you're doing with your land isn't as exciting as it could be, then seize it and hand it over to another private individual to have a better crack at it. (And a corporation is a private individual – just ask The Corporation.)
Anyway, as luck would have it, Lileks provides this peek into how such a scenario can play out. Eerie, and oddly romantic. And, look! The villain in this story is our old friend Best Buy. Perfect.
"michwagn" — Mon, 6/27/05 9:59am
I was at wedding in southern Minnesota over the weekend where my uncle, a conservative Republican Iowa hog farmer (on a family farm), was very distressed by the SC's ruling. He is afraid of "mega-hog" farms getting the government to engineer scenarios where family farms like his are bought and converted to "mega-hog" farms that are less environmentally friendly, and cut into the living of family farmers, who have less resources.
My uncle was of the opinion that he and those like him could be swayed to single-issue vote on the issue of private-controlled eminent domain.
While a long shot at this point in the game, this is the kind of issue that could sway enough voters in some of the red states in the nation's midsection to the blue side.
Bee Boy — Mon, 6/27/05 2:03pm
A long shot indeed, but wouldn't that be a treat! It's a shame the factory farming issue hasn't gained more traction – it affects small farmers like your uncle as well as local economies, environment, and public health.
I'm sure it doesn't help that the front line crusaders are the PETA psychos and nobody takes them seriously. Still, I found The Meatrix informative and semi-entertaining.
"michwagn" — Wed, 6/29/05 12:39pm
Yeah, I remember when I was a cub reporter in Peoria, IL and went to cover a PETA rally. I wanted to be very thorough, so I spent some time there, watched their videos of a pig crying out for help and all of that and then did some interviews, interviewed some of the people they were protesting and went back to the station.
I had a strange feeling during most of the process and later realized that what I felt was that the PETA people were genuniely surprised that a reporter was talking to them. They must get brushed off as crazy all the time, and here was a real-live (if a bit green) reporter interviewing them.
What strikes me now is that if they stage a protest with the idea that they won't get coverage because it is so over-the-top psycho, shouldn't they change their tactics?