KATRINA AND KELO TOGETHER AGAIN ...

... well sort of!

Actually I ran across this piece in from the BBC and asked myself the most cynical of questions: assuming for the moment that KELO is invoked in the hurricane damaged Gulfcoast by local, state, and federal officials, AND assuming the courts capitulate (What can they do? It was their idea!), WHAT makes them any less evil than one of the most evil leaders, Robert Mugabe, in the world at this time?

If KELO is used (and I am hypothecating here) to displace thousands in order to redevelop the Gulfcoast sans the problematic "underclass" of the area, what makes their urban cleansing any less specious than Mugabe's forced slum cleansings?

Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly, Mr Mugabe said the demolition of vast urban areas was an effort to boost law and order and development. He insisted that the slum clearances were followed by well-planned building projects designed to rehouse the poor.

Some accuse him of bulldozing slums housing opposition supporters. Mr Mugabe defended the demolitions, insisting that Zimbabwe must move forward, rather than tolerate poverty and haphazard urban development.

Sound familiar? How about this?

"We find it strange and anomalous that the government of Zimbabwe should be maligned and condemned for restoring order and the rule of law in its municipal areas," he told the UN in New York.

"Our detractors fail to acknowledge that Operation Restore Order soon gave way to a well-planned, vast reconstruction programme.

"Properly planned accommodation, factory shells and vending stalls are being constructed in many areas of our country for our people."

As my friend Ernie at Lobster Suffed with Tacos said,

Whether you find this frightening or not depends on your trust of government. Many liberals are probably delighted that Kelo gives the government the ability to cut through often selfish and narrow-minded interests to implement a master plan with the whole community's welfare in mind. Conservatives I think are concerned that the entire idea of property rights, legal recourse, and community voice are being sidelined in favor of some Beltway technocrat's vision.

This discussion, my friends, will either die a slow and merciful death for a lack of foundation or it will begin at some point to expand to a full blown storm of controversy ... another natural disaster would sink this president!

RELATED (Disclaimer - The CRIB doesn't necessarily endorse the following views):

Maximum Advantage Discussed - DEMOCIDE
KATRINA PLUS KELO - Equals katastrophy!