Daily Archives: 19 May 2014

Not Far Wrong

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Good for the Mayor, say I; he’s on the right track.

Porterville, CA, Mayor Cameron Hamilton said at a recent City Council meeting that, while he opposes bullying, he thinks it is too often used as an excuse. He added that some people need to “grow a pair.”

Naturally, this has caused outrage on the Left.

Councilwoman Virginia Gurrola…told the mayor, “It’s hard to just ‘grow a pair’ when you’re a 10-year-old girl.”

Surely, Gurrola understands that “hard” means “possible.”

And

Melissa McMurrey…told KFSN-TV that she felt attacked by the mayor’s comments. She said bullies often target young gay people.

Of course. I’m a victim. How dare you challenge my victimhood? How dare you suggest that I might actually just stop being a victim?

Personal responsibility isn’t always easy, and sometimes some folks, especially our children, need help. Despite that, though, personal responsibility matters, and it’s not something that can be wished off onto others. Self-defense is a personal obligation, not solely a thing to be used to create a burden on others.

Not even by our children. That’s what parents are for, and that’s what parents need to do a better job of teaching, right from the start—some at teaching their bully child to stop bullying, and others at teaching their bullied child how to counter the bully.

Rule of Law

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Earlier I wrote about government and free speech regarding a Wall Street Journal op-ed about the FCC’s proposed interference with the business of the Internet.

Buried near the end of the op-ed, though, was a remark that needs greater notice than was present in the piece.

Mr Wheeler’s FCC claims “there are no rules on the books to prevent broadband providers from limiting Internet openness by blocking content or discriminating against consumers and entrepreneurs online.”

The WSJ denied the charge,

But this is false. …the Federal Trade Commission already has ample authority to go after businesses that mistreat customers, online or off[]

but that’s beside the point.

We’re not Europeans. Neither are we, generally, Progressives. We have no need of a government’s rule to tell us every jot or tittle of what we are permitted or not permitted to do. We are American citizens; we are fully capable of deciding for ourselves, in the absence of the “guidance” of our Betters, what we might do or not do.