Re: Latest Supreme Court Ruling: US v. Lopez

From: Brian Manning Delaney (b-delaney@uchicago.edu)
Date: Tue May 23 2000 - 14:29:15 MDT


"Michael S. Lorrey" wrote:
> Brian Manning Delaney wrote:
> > Technotranscendence wrote:
> > > On Monday, May 22, 2000 12:56 PM Michael S.
> > > Lorrey mike@datamann.com wrote:

> > >> Assuming Bush gets elected, I forsee US. v.
> > >> Emerson passing the Court with a
> > >> devastating victory for gun owner rights
> > >> and the 2nd Amendment.

> > > Assuming he gets elected... But the problem is,
> > > a Conservative Court is no friend to freedom
> > > in general. Surely, we might -- ah, might!
> > > -- get some gun control removed, but in other
> > > areas, such as police power, we might have
> > > more freedoms curtailed.

>> Indeed.
>>
>> Speaking of which, I would think the U.S.
>> presidential election choice would be a
>> difficult one for an Extropian. On the one hand,
>> you have the obvious ZOG-type problems with Gore,
>> but on the other hand, you have, with Bush, not
>> just the potential for expanded police powers (which
>> doesn't bother me too much), but also the
>> possibility of severe restrictions in stem cell
>> research -- and not just the federal funding
>> thereof.

> Molly Ivins wrote a book about Dubya called "Shrub".
> In it she detailed how the fundamentalists that
> got Bush elected to the Texas Governorship wound
> up with a lot less than they bargained for, and
> in the end wound up just being happy that "THAT
> woman" was no longer the Governor (Anne Richards).

We'll see (well, most likely: stupid but charming Republican
generally beats smart but phlegmatic Democrat).

It's an important question. My concern with Bush is that not
only might there be even greater restrictions on federal funding
of stem cell (and related) research, but there might even be
greater restrictions on what can happen in the private sector.
The former restrictions might not have a huge impact, if the
economy continues to perform well, but the latter would be
devastating. With relatively few restrictions, we could have
radical life-extension technology available REALLY soon.

The few things Bush has so far said on this make me think that
voting for him may mean suicide. Literally. (Depends on a LOT of
other factors, of course.)

But maybe he'll change his tune once he's elected (as in Austin,
per Ivins).

Difficult.

Best,
Brian.



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