Big Dogs Weblog

Why Would You Confirm This Man?

by Blake on Sep 9, 2009 at 20:09 Political

There was a vote for cloture today on Cass Sunstein, Harvard Law Professor, friend of the Resident, and animal rights whackjob, for the position of Regulatory “Czar”.
I know, there are some people who object to the word “czar”- I do also, (It’s an anti- Russian thing with me), but remember, I was not the first to do so, and it has kind of stuck in a “shorthand” way to describe the power these un- elected, (in some cases unconfirmed- in other cases, even unvetted) people can have on our lives.

Especially this one.

Remember, a person can be intelligent as Einstein, but still be a danger to this country, and this man more than most. Why? Simple really- he will be able to influence the regulations of virtually everything. Everything! How much sugar is allowed in chewing gum- the amount of allowable kilowatts your home can consume (if you go over that amount they will reduce power to your home, or charge you an “extra” sin tax on the kilowatts you use in excess of your allowance). The list is virtually unlimited on what or who he could regulate.

After the departure of Van Jones, the former White House special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation, Washington has begun to take more seriously an argument made on July 30 by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) — that  Obama is attempting to expand the number of “czars” in order to sneak radicals into his administration. The president, wrote Cantor in The Washington Post, has appointed a “virtual army of ‘czars’ — each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for the White House.” And Sunstein is often included in that list. According to Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who has introduced legislation that would cancel the salaries of presidential appointees who haven’t been confirmed by the Senate, Sunstein is one of 34 such “czars.” Glenn Beck, the TV and radio host who has taken credit for the campaign that ousted Jones, has attacked the man he calls “Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein” on no fewer than 12 episodes of his Fox News show.

washingtonindependent.com

You are indeed tarred with the brush of the company you keep, but Sunstein has his own baggage- an avid animal rights activist, he is a proponent of the right for animals to sue the meat-packing plants that have cruel methods for dispatching the animals for consumption by a meat- hungry nation.

Even if the “czar” issue fades, the attacks on Sunstein’s more controversial views may stick. By far the most damaging critique has been the one that prompted the senatorial holds: Sunstein’s view of animal rights, including the view that humans may sue on the behalf of animals. “If confirmed,” Sunstein told Cornyn in a July 31 letter that effectively ended the hold, “I certainly would not use my position at [the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs] to promote animal standing in civil litigation.” But David Martosko, a spokesman for the conservative Center for Consumer Freedom, has hammered Sunstein for his views, and done so on two episodes of Beck’s show.

On TV and in his interview with TWI, Martosko said that Sunstein was a “disciple” of Peter Singer, the Princeton University ethicist who has taken controversial stands on, among other things, the morality of killing disabled infants “if that was in the best interests of the baby and of the family as a whole.” In an email to TWI, Singer said that he had only worked with Sunstein once, and that Martosko was wildly off base.

washingtonindependent.com

This may or may not be true, but it is beyond dispute that Sunstein’s views are wildly out of step with the majority of people in this country, most of whom eat meat, and many of whom hunt. Would there be an attack on hunting next?  do not know- do you want to wait until it becomes law, or try to head it off at the pass, as they used to say in the older Westerns?

Our way of life includes a big swath of “Leave Me Alone”- we as a people have a distaste for over regulation, and this could be one person who might be responsible for the Resident’s ouster in a short time if he begins imposing unwarranted regulations on certain segments of society. There will be pushback, because the American public is awakening to the fact that this is a multi-pronged assault on our freedoms. Sunstein is just the pointman du jour. 

We need to excise him from government service ASAP, and return him to the LaLa land of Harvard Academia, where he can think of other outrageous theories that do not work in the real world.

Meanwhile, I’ll be waiting at the gate for my Baby Harp Seal seat covers- I hear they are so soft…..

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Tags: animal rights, czar, incompetent Harvard Professor, regulations, whackjob