Far left Democrats are selective regarding which minorities they choose to persecute.  For example, they would never persecute an African American murderer facing the death penalty in California.  That would be wrong.  But they have no difficulty persecuting a business owner who wants to allow smoking on his private property.  More and more minorities are being persecuted by the far left as more and more of our personal freedoms are being taken.  Of course, our personal rights are being stolen slowly…so slowly that we barely notice. 

Some recent examples of the erosion of our personal rights:

Business owners in St. Paul (as in every major city) keep their lights on over night.  This is a safety issue as well as an outward indication that the city is thriving.  Whining leftists who moved into condos in the city (with huge curtain-less windows) are now trying to force the city to make the business owner shut off the lights at 10:00.  

An editorial in the Minneapolis StarTribune (December 10, 2005) noted that concern is unjustified regarding the erosion of property rights by cities.  The editorial went on to state that only 5% of the cities in Minnesota had confiscated property through the process of eminent domain.  A small percentage?  Not to the people whose lives were affected.  Just another slow encroachment by the leftists whose focus is on the “collective” as opposed to the individual. 

A leftist columnist for the StarTribune (Doug Grow) wrote about the evils of high heels.  Later, a letter writer wrote that not only is it bad for the feet but the resulting health costs impact us all.  A woman’s personal right to wear what she wants is being attacked on the basis of what is good for the “collective”.  (I doubt that the columnist and letter writer would question a woman’s personal right to an abortion.)

Several other personal freedoms are under attack.  Often we see articles about the need to tax the use of vehicles based on how many miles they are driven.  This is an attempt to regulate travel and, in some cases, to prevent “urban sprawl”.  The left hates that people want to live in areas that are roomy and safe. 

Of course we all know about the continued push by the left to make taxes higher and higher on larger vehicles.  This is just one way of controlling the size of the vehicles we purchase.  A frequent reader of this blog (Meltindex) informed me that in Canada they control vehicle size by angling all parking spaces at 90 degrees.  Subtle?  Not very.  It is difficult to park a larger vehicle in a small, 90 degree space.  Of course, in much of Europe the control over vehicle size is even more blatant. Narrow roads, small parking spaces, and excessively high taxes on gasoline do the job quite well. 

Of course there are many other examples of the erosion of our freedoms right here in the United States.  Laws in many states require that motorcyclists wear a helmet.  Now some are trying to regulate the sound of their bikes.  We know that the Constitutional right to own and carry a weapon is limited or eliminated in many states.  People are not allowed to smoke inside many privately owned businesses.  Now some cities are preventing them from smoking in certain outdoor spaces.  Letters are written to newspapers daily about the need to control the types of food sold at various restaurants to protect people from becoming overweight and thereby costing the “collective” more in health costs. 

The problem is that these examples are just part of the equation.  While those on the left slowly and often quietly take away individual rights for the good of the “collective” they redirect our attention to their “concerns” about the rights being taken away under the Patriot Act.  I believe this is a ruse.  The rights being taken by the left impact all of us.  Loss of some rights under the Patriot Act will impact the bad guys.  Of course we know that leftists don’t want to persecute the bad guys.  But by redirecting our attention to the patriot Act they can continue to steal our freedom without notice.

We owe it to ourselves to pay attention.