David McElroy

I’m astounded at those on the progressive left who claim to champion civil liberties, but then make it obvious that what they really want are liberties for people who agree with them — not for those they hate. Attention-seeking feminist lawyer Gloria Allred is high up on the list of hypocrites.

Those of us who believe in liberty — both economic and social — hope we can count on conservatives on economic liberty and progressives on social liberties, because their rhetoric at least agrees with us in most of those areas. But many in both camps disappoint us — as they make it clear that their objective is to attack people they don’t like, not fight for consistent principles.

Allred said Friday that she’s asking a county prosecutor in Florida to investigate conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh for called Sandra Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute” on the air. There’s an old Florida law that says anyone who “speaks of and concerning any woman, married or unmarried, falsely and maliciously imputing to her a want of chastit” is guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor.

Although Allred is apparently still a practicing attorney, you have to wonder whether she’s ever heard of — much less read — the case law surrounding the First Amendment.

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Weight loss is tough for anybody, but consider the poor snowball who decides to get athletic. I wonder how many of our weight loss methods are similarly counterproductive.

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In an effort to cut costs, the U.S. Air Force reportedly plans to move eight giant C-130 cargo planes from their current base in Texas. During hurricane evacuations in the U.S. Gulf Coast states, those eight planes are used to ferry people out and bring supplies in — and the governors of those five states are complaining about the potential loss of the planes to the area.

The governors of the five Gulf Coast states sent a letter to Barack Obama opposing the plan to pull the planes out of Texas and move them to Montana. (The entire Texas congressional delegation signed the letter, too.) They say that the planes would be too far away in the future to provide quick and effective help in case of hurricane disasters, so they want to planes to keep sitting there — waiting for the next time they need them. Without paying for them, of course.

And here’s the key. All five of those governors are Republicans. All five claim to be conservatives at election time. They speak of cutting taxes and slashing budgets. When it’s not election time, though, they’re more interested in what goodies they can get that are funded by national taxpayers. They’re opposed to any cuts that might affect their states. Why is there such a disconnect between their campaign rhetoric and what they work for once they’re in office?

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