Attribute to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

A couple of days ago, at a “pro-choice” protest rally in front of the Supreme Court, Democrat Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (he wants you to call him “Chuck”) ranted against two Justices, both Trump appointees, who happen to disagree with him about abortion, threatening them with almost biblical retribution if they made a ruling he disapproved of.

Full disclosure, here: I am a libertarian, not a conservative. I believe that a woman is entitled to own and operate her own body—although I do draw the line at executing a viable “fetus” the way Democrats have been advocating lately; there’s a technical term for that: infanticide.

Schumer may have fatally damaged his career with these shouted remarks. It is fondly to be hoped. People across all lines—in politics and in the media—have been bashing him, saying that he physically threatened those Justices in a way that’s borderline illegal and that he ought to be censured, removed from his leadership position, ejected from the Senate, or criminally charged. All happy endings.

It reminds me of a situation that occurred here in Fort Collins, maybe twenty-five years ago. John Knezovitch was a member of our comic relief City Council with an infantile fixation on violating the Second Amendment and depriving his fellow human beings of their legally-owned weapons. Fort Collins is a very well-armed city and the only reason you don’t see rifles in pickup truck windows any more is because their owners don’t want to get their windows broken and their rifles stolen.

Unable to get victim-disarmament laws of any kind passed, Knezovitch, an authoritarian deputy police chief, and the morally-constipated sheriff, minced around town from store to store—the kind of store I like best—browbeating and threatening the proprietors if they carried and sold certain kinds of knives—butterflies, for example—that were perfectly legal, but they disapproved of. I don’t know about the sheriff and the deputy, but in Knezovitch’s case, there were always rumors about a sketchy past back east that he had fled under a cloud. I can’t go into detail here because it would likely get me sued. But it is my experience that when a politician wants to render those around him defenseless, especially females, it’s because he wishes to harm them with impunity.

What I call the “Knezovitch Effect” was established when the fellow made a speech about bigotry and hate. He quite properly denounced evil-doers who say bad things, like the N-word for black people and the K-word for Jews. Only the idiot actually said the words! He was immediately set upon by his erstwhile allies and had to resign in shame, sorrow, and copious tears. Here’s a schmuck who was ruined when he actually spoke the truth! Hence, the Knezovitch Effect.

I am a careful user of words. I have been praised by northeastern book editors for my command of the English language. Philosopher Robert LeFevre won me over with the careful way he always spoke. I spent some of my happiest days on the National Platform Committee of the Libertarian Party, arguing about usages, and the way employing a comma instead of a semi-colon changes a simple statement into criminal advocacy. I was watching and I can assure you that Schumer, though transparently hysterical, said nothing illegal at that rally. He did not call for physical violence against the Supreme Court.

However, like ex-Councilman Knezovitch, what people think Schumer said could be his downfall. I, for one, will not defend him or weep for him. Schumer has been a bad actor since I first began writing, a pain in the ass of the Constitution, and a constant advocate of the theft and destruction that is all the left-wing consists of. He has long since lost the right to any kind of decent consideration.