« Murray Sabrin at NJ Straw Poll | LRC Blog | LRC Home | God Save the Iraqis » October 01, 2007 Who Chooses the Choices? Posted by Butler Shaffer at October 1, 2007 06:27 PM
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff proclaims an "enhanced driver's license" program in Vermont as an acceptable alternative to either a passport or a Real ID card for Americans trying to get back into the country from a foreign visit. Chertoff explained that the federal government is interested in "making sure we give people a choice." This is the kind of clumsy thinking that confuses "liberty" with "choice." It has all the empty meaning of a grocery-store checkout clerk asking you to choose between "paper" or "plastic." One does not enjoy "liberty" when the state defines and circumscribes the range of "choices" you are entitled to make. Shall we next hear Herr Chertoff defend capital punishment on the grounds that allowing the condemned man to select between electrocution and lethal injection is a way of "making sure we give people a choice"? Digg this . Save to del.icio.us . Stumble It . Reddit . Discuss on Newsvine [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
