A few days ago, Steve Simpson of the Institute for Justice sent me a copy of his and Dana Berliner’s op-ed on the Lawrence vs. Texas sodomy case. It’s excellent, as expected. They write:

Conservatives, especially, ought to be wary of casting their lot with the states on this issue. If the states can ban purely private conduct between consenting adults, what is to keep them from banning home schooling, for instance, or instituting mandatory preschool, or requiring parents to follow certain nutritional guidelines for their children? Conservatives who condone a process that leads us down this path need to start asking themselves what exactly it is they are trying to conserve.

Unfortunately, the left’s approach is no better. Where conservatives extol the virtue of state government power when it comes to certain moral or lifestyle issues, the left extols the virtues of government power when it comes to regulations of property and economic affairs. Both sides love government power when it suits their immediate agenda, but both ought to realize that this approach is only as good as one’s ability to control a particular legislature. The left ought to recognize that it cannot pick and choose which aspects of individual liberty are beyond government power. Privacy is worth very little if one has no property on which to practice it.

The cool part is that Steve described NoodleFood as “one of [his] morning staples.” For all I know, he’s just buttering me up for the sake of the onslaught of publicity that a mention on NoodleFood inevitably brings. But who cares!?! My blog adores flattery! :-)