Thursday, July 16, 2015

Where are the civil libertarians to defend that couple in Oregon?







The story of the Oregon bakery is hard to believe but true.  They are even talking about it in London:
The bakers said their refusal to bake for the couple was prompted by religious beliefs. The case has been cited in the national debate over religious freedom and discrimination against gays.
Bakery owners Aaron and Melissa Klein closed their Gresham store in 2013 and operate the business from home. They can still file an appeal with the Oregon court of appeals.
One of the Kleins’ attorneys, Anna Harmon, criticised the order, saying it was a case of “an overpowered elected official using his position to root out thought and speech with which he personally disagrees”.
Avakian’s order is unconstitutional, Harmon said, because “the right to speak freely, to think uniquely, and to live according to our faith is the bedrock of this country”.
I don't get it:

First, aren't we free to practice religion in the US?   The bakers refuse to bake the cake because it goes against their religious beliefs.    Isn't that what the US is about?

Second, what about their First Amendment rights?  They were ordered not to talk about it.

Third, and finally, aren't there other bakeries in town?   Why didn't the lesbian couple just take their dollars and go somewhere else?

This case should be appalling to every American, whether you are you left or right.
We can agree to disagree on the meaning of marriage.   We should not argue about the First Amendment, or one of the primary reasons that this is an exceptional nation.
My question is this:  Where is the ACLU when we really need them?  Is there an ACLU chapter brave enough to challenge the PC crowd?


P. S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
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Obama would have lost Florida if he had disclosed his intentions

(My new American Thinker post)
On election day, 8.5 million people voted in Florida.   Obama eventually won by 70,000 votes.   

What if Obama had disclosed his plans to talk to Cuba without demanding an inch from the Castro regime?    He would have lost Florida.

 Let's remember what candidate Obama said not long ago: 
During the 2008 campaign, Obama sometimes talked about his criteria for normalizing relations with Cuba and lifting the embargo in the same breath, making it appear that his criteria overlapped.During the Democratic presidential primary in 2007, Obama wrote an op-ed for the Miami Herald in which he called for "unrestricted rights'' for Cuban-American travel and remittances to the island."Accordingly, I will use aggressive and principled diplomacy to send an important message: If a post-Fidel (Castro) government begins opening Cuba to democratic change, the United States (the president working with Congress) is prepared to take steps to normalize relations and ease the embargo that has governed relations between our countries for the last five decades," Obama wrote.
So I guess that Obama "evolved" on Cuba, as he apparently did with same sex marriage.

 In fact, most Cuban Americans were not against talks.   I understood that the US had to be in contact with the island's future relationship.

 We supported talks not a monologue, specially one monologue from Raul Castro.

 John Bolton is right: 

Obama may even travel to Cuba before he leaves office. Undoubtedly, Fidel and Raul Castro will turn out cheering crowds to greet him as a hero. Why not? Obama will feel right at home in their company.
In return for enormous U.S. concessions to Cuba’s authoritarians, the Obama administration has received essentially nothing. Havana’s promises to lessen its repressive domestic policies have already been violated, and there is little chance that a more “open” American policy will aid the Cuban people more than the caudillos running the country.
We have nothing to show for all of the talking and negotiations.  

Before December, the cruise ships floated by on their way to Jamaica and Cancun.    

 Soon, the ships will stop in Cuba and thousands of dollars will flow into the regime's pockets.    And the dissidents will continue to be arrested.   


P. S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.




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Pope Francis in Latin America, "El Chapo" escapes and other stories.



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