Why I Want to Support Bobby Franklin But Can’t
State Rep Bobby Franklin is certainly an interesting case study in terms of political philosophy and political pragmatism/practicality.
Looking at just his pre-files for the 2010 session of the General Assembly that starts in about a month, he’s got several bills that are GREAT philosophically, though at least some of them are pure “mental masturbation” (ideas that are fun to debate, but stand little actual chance of happening) pragmatically. Then he’s got Ray McBerry’s “War Bills”. These are bills that, if enacted, would lead directly to a physical shooting war with the US Government – an idea he has said he supports.
Let’s take a brief look at the bills he has pre-filed this session:
HB 869 would allow a legal mechanism to enforce furlough days on the General Assembly in times of budget constraints. Currently, any furlough days taken by the General Assembly members are purely voluntary and therefore symbolic. This bill would end that, and thereby allow the General Assembly to emphasize more with their constituents who have furlough days forced upon them.
HB 870 is one whose basic concept sounds good – to eliminate all unconstitutional agencies. The problem is two-fold: 1) There are quite a bit of agencies that are constitutional per the GA Constitution that are not discussed in the US Constitution – such as education and insurance, among others. 2) This bill, if enacted, would be a flagrant violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution by officially establishing Franklin’s own particular brand of Christianity as the religion of this State.
HB 871 would eliminate mandatory vaccinations in Georgia and make them voluntary vaccinations instead. This is another one I could support due to it allowing the individual and the parent more control over his/her (or his/her child’s) own bodies. All health decisions are ultimately private decisions, and government has no right to dictate these concerns. Of course, Franklin also opposes women’s rights to make certain other health care decisions on their own, instead wanting government to dictate to them in that regard… Can we get a bit of consistency on principles here, Rep Franklin?
HB 872 would eliminate the Governor’s emergency ability to take your guns and prevent you from buying more. I’m completely with Franklin on this one.
HB 873 is one of the pure mental masturbation bills. It would completely eliminate all Georgia laws regarding “dangerous instrumentalities” on the (correct) basis that items themselves are not dangerous – people using those items makes them dangerous, and the people should be held accountable for using them in dangerous ways. Even if this wasn’t pure mental masturbation though, it still faces one concrete problem of again violating the First Amendment, though not nearly as bad as HB 870 above.
HB 874 would allow dairy farmers – or anyone with a dairy cow, presumably – to sell raw whole milk to any willing buyer without government regulation. I’m pretty sure I personally would never purchase such milk, but I know there are others who would, and I agree with Franklin that such commerce should not be regulated.
HB 875 is one where Franklin lays out his case beautifully in the findings section – this time without violating the First Amendment – before doing something that turns this bill into complete mental masturbation – eliminating all drivers’ licenses in Georgia. This is one that is absolutely solid philosophically, but even I do not think would work in the real world. There needs to be basic standards of knowledge in order to be allowed to hurl a 2000 lb object at speeds up to and above 65 mph (the highest legal speed limit I am aware of). Now, if he wanted to use this thought process to eliminate any and all restrictions on foot travel (other than not violating private property, of course), THAT I could both support and think may be possible in the real world.
HB 876 would force government agencies to get a search warrant before capturing any image of a person or that person’s property. Exceptions are made for fixed security cameras on government buildings, express consent of the person or routine booking/ID badge photos, and cameras in cop cars that record traffic stops only. This is another one that actually sounds like a solid idea to me – though I doubt it will ever see the light of day on the Floor of the House.
HB 877 is one of the most direct “War Bills” of the bunch. It would have all Georgians pay Federal taxes to the State, then create a “Federal Tax Fund Panel” – which could have no lawyers on it – to decide how much money to send to DC, and direct that money to specific programs. Money and economics are the number one cause of war throughout history -indeed, ALL wars essentially come down to money – and this bill is truly the mouse poking the lion with a stick. HB 878 would make felons out of Federal agents doing their jobs when seizing financial assets. HB 880 would extend this to any agent of the any Federal, multinational, or international agency who enforces any law Bobby Franklin and Ray McBerry doesn’t like, and really shows their black helicopter conspiracy theories in full form.
HB 879 would exempt any product “grown, manufactured, assembled, mined, extracted, generated, or created” in Georgia for use by Georgians within the State from Federal regulation. The problem with this one is that a person could bring in the components to a nuclear weapon into the Port of Savannah, assemble the final weapon in Georgia, use it against any number of targets in Atlanta or throughout the State, and under this bill could get away with everything up until the moment of detonation. In other words, if Eric Robert Rudolph assembles and transports the weapon before handing it off to Timothy McVeigh for final detonation, only McVeigh could be charged here. Rudolph did nothing wrong under this bill. I know it is an extreme example, but sometimes to fully show a flaw in a line of reasoning, you must use inductive reasoning to take the idea to its extreme and see if it holds up at that point. Quite simply, this bill – as well as the rest of the “War Bills” – does not.
Finally, Franklin has pre-filed HR 1085, which would be a Constitutional Amendment to allow any citizen of this State legal grounds to challenge any law enacted by the General Assembly. This is one that sounds AMAZING, but I can already see Franklin and his friends salivating at the chance to clog up the Georgia court system with Constitutional challenges. This bill is, in effect, his own admission that he is absolutely, completely, and utterly ineffective as a legislator and cannot use the legislative process to repeal laws he finds repugnant.
So you see, there are some bills even this session that I REALLY want to be able to support Bobby Franklin on. But then with other bills he exposes his Theocratic and black-helicopter conspiracy theory-based beliefs – not to mention his either ignorance of history or outright lunacy in desiring war.
Therefore, I simply can NOT, in good conscience, support such beliefs.
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December 15th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Re: HB 871…if the government has no right to dictate public health concerns because these decisions should ultimately be private, why should the government be allowed to chlorinate the water supply? Chlorination greatly reduces the risk of widespread disease…just like vaccinations.
December 15th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Russ
You’re kidding I hope.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:18 am
So the bottom line is that you can’t support Bobby Franklin because he’s too principled.
P.S. You think every aspect of reclaiming states’ rights will start a “shooting war” with the federal government. I think that makes you paranoid. Also spineless, since you think that since it will cause conflict we should just forget about it. Frankly, I want all my rights, whether the Federal government will give them to me or not.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:45 am
While I don’t agree with Jeff that these bills will equal war (there’s a lot of other possible scenarios there), I’m going to take issue with one thing you said.
You dared to call Jeff “spineless” because he doesn’t want to go to war the the Federal Government. Agree, disagree, whatever. But Jeff posts opinions on local politics in an area where everyone knows everyone. He posts opinions that aren’t popular, even with some without our own party, and he does it using his real name. Disagree all you want, but to call a man spineless because he disagrees with one thing like war is pathetic. Especially when you enjoy anonymity that Jeff, Bill and I forsake by writing for this site.
Make no mistake, Jeff and I both want all our rights. But war should be the last resort, and neither of us believe we’re at the point where that’s necessary.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I’m not kidding. It’s a serious question.
December 15th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Then it’s a poor analogy. If the government were dictating what you had to put in your private water supply because they thought it was good for you your question would make more sense. Chlorinating a public water supply to help insure the quality of the product the customers buy just doesn’t equate to a forced medical procedure.
December 15th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
ApacheAngel (aka Naomi C Brown)
I had a much longer reply and lost most of it, but here is the piece regarding you calling me ’spineless’:
Let’s see, since 2004, when I was your age, I have fell flat on my face for a year and built myself back up, taught in the classroom for a year, been featured in articles in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Albany Herald, and the Lee County Ledger, been featured in at least a couple of reports on regional news television here in Albany, operated a political blog which I created where I’ve written nearly 400 posts under my own name, ran for City Council, organized and founded a local affiliate of the Party I most believe in, been elected to the State Executive Committee of said Party, attended local City Council and County Commission meetings – and wrote about my thoughts on them, spoken at said meetings, developed professional relationships with a wide variety of politicians and political activitsts of nearly every political persuasion, and even managed to have a personal life throughout all of that where I’ve achieved everything I ever wanted outside of having a child. I’ve done every bit of that under my own name, where people can know me and attack me face to face.
Yet you, Ms Brown, try to hide online under the moniker ‘apacheangel’ because you are too afraid to stand up and be counted. So you sit back in your relative online anonymity and take pot shots at people you disagree with, whether they be politicians, bloggers, or simply private citizens. I see that you are just as crazy as Jenny Hodges, Bobby Franklin, and Ray McBerry, who you clearly idolize. But what makes them better than you is that at least they have the courage to stand for what they believe under their own names in public – even when they know full well they may be the only ones there with the beliefs they have.
I’ll leave you with this line from “A Few Good Men”, since I think it applies here:
“I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a [wo]man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said “thank you,” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to. “
December 15th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Russ,
I’m with Wilson. If you can show where people who get their water from private wells are forced by government regulation to also chlorinate their water, you MAY have a point, but for now the issue of chlorinated water vs mandatory vaccinations is apples v oranges.
December 15th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Perhaps it’s not a perfect analogy. Does the government have ANY right to protect the public health? That should be my question, rather than comparing chlorination and vaccination.
Not everyone is forced to immunize their children in spite of the huge public benefit that has been proven over the years…waivers are given for religious reasons, for example. There are many diseases that have been eliminated from our society because of these mandatory immunizations (e.g., polio, smallpox). Measles and mumps, which are very dangerous, especially for kids, are making comebacks because people have refused to vaccinate for whatever reason, usually due to unproven (by any rigorous scientific study) fears about possible side effects.
We simply do not have to live with these terrible diseases, or even think about them very much, due to mandatory vaccinations. I can appreciate the basic philosophy that if the government is forcing me to do something, then it must be wrong. (If I’m over-simplifying, then I can stand to be corrected). My main point is this: I believe the gov’t has an important role in protecting the public health from these dread diseases.
December 15th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
I have no intention of “hiding” behind an “online presence.” It is merely the name I chose to use several years ago for most of my online dealings, and most people who know me, know it is me, and those who don’t know me, wouldn’t be any the wiser simply by knowing by name, considering my insignificance.
That said, my reply was poorly worded. I should have said you position was spineless, rather than you yourself. I thought that was implied, obviously it wasn’t. I did not intend to make any personal attacks on your character, particularly since I don’t know you.
I completely disagree with your position, and that was what I intended to convey. I apologize for my poor wording.
December 15th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Bobby Franklin ia a paranoid, pathetic nut case. But then what would you expect from someone who believes Ray McBerry would make a good governor? What sickens me most is how they hide behind the cross to promote ther christianazi views. There vision for our state is enough for one to realize what a bunch of nut cases they all are. Anyone remember Jenny asking Rays campaign voluenteers to hang McBerry campaign signs illegally from our states bridges? They dont even know the states highways right away laws, yet they think they could manage our state? Scarey huh? Losers such as Franklin and McBerry deserve one another. I just feel sorry for the poor souls who are being MISrepresented by Franklin. Mr, Franklin must be the laughing stock of the legislature!
December 16th, 2009 at 4:53 am
Naomi,
I can deal with disagreement, that really isn’t a big deal to me. As far as people not knowing your name: You would be surprised how far your name can travel without you ever actually going anywhere. It was a lesson I learned early in life, and it is a lesson I try to remember at all times.
However, even my position is not spineless. Instead, it is born out of the realization of just how horrible war truly is. We Americans have truly been blessed – we’re one of very few places on this planet that hasn’t seen war on our own soil in nearly 150 years now. The day may come when we have no other choice, but even then I refuse to fire the first shot, nor will I advocate that those who agree with me on the issues do so. As things currently exist, there are simply too many tools built into the system that liberty advocates can peacefully use to change the way things are, and therefore to call for war, or to even push us in that direction, is folly.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:13 am
Well, Jeff,
If you actually listen to Mr. McBerry without preconceived notions, you would find that, while he is prepared for the worst, he agrees that war (and secession for those who think he is of that mindset) is the last resort.