If Democrats Did Not Worry So Much About Fake Rights, They Might Be More Respectful of Real Ones
6th September 2012
Jacob Sullum calls them out.
Last week I faulted the Republicans for the selective reading of the Constitution reflected in their 2012 platform. But at least the folks who put together that platform have read the Constitution (or parts of it); I’m not sure the same can be said of their Democratic counterparts. While the Republicans have a 4,000-word section devoted to “A Restoration of Constitutional Government,” the Democrats give us 1,400 words on “Protecting Rights and Freedoms”—many of which, upon closer examination, turn out to be neither rights nor freedoms. Among the alleged rights that the Democrats promise to defend: freedom from “discrimination in the workplace and other settings,” “paycheck fairness” for women, “job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons,” “evidence-based and age-appropriate sex education,” government subsidies for Planned Parenthood, and taxpayer-funded health care, including “free access” to “prenatal screenings, mammograms, cervical cancer screening, breast-feeding supports, and contraception.”