Bernie Sanders, July 27, 2018, MSNBC:

“Look, as I’ve said before, yeah, I think people have the right to go into a restaurant and have dinner,” he said.

I would like to ask Bernie and his true-believing followers: from where does the right to dine in a restaurant come? Is it a God-given right? If so, all humans prior to the invention of the development of the modern-day restaurant were denied that right. Cro-magnon man was deprived of his right. Hunter-gatherers were denied their right. Neanderthals were deprived of their right. Paleo-indians were discriminated against.

Vote-seeking politicians seem very ill-educated when it comes to rights. They toss the “right to” this and the “right to” to that out all the time. It sounds good to the unthinking person, and may garner attention, good feelings and hopefully votes at election time, but such ideas have no basis in reality.

But if the right to dine in a restaurant is not a right that can be found to be granted by God or Nature, then perhaps it is a secondary right guaranteed to some people by the U.S. Constitution. Perhaps it a right guaranteed by an obscure Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Alas, I cannot find it. Perhaps Mr. Sanders can point to it. Let’s go back further – was the right to dine in a restaurant debated in the Continental Congress? Was it a grievance the founding fathers brought to the attention of King George III? Is it a right asserted in the Declaration of Independence? I’m coming up empty. I find it nowhere.

Can it be found in Magna Carta?

Perhaps there is a more recent law guaranteeing the right to dine in a restaurant. That would be wonderful for all when hunger sets in each and every day. Everyone, including those who could not afford to pay for dinner out, could invoke this elusive statute and protect their right to free dining. Having no money would not cancel this right. On the other hand I would feel a tad sorry for the restaurant owner struggling to make ends meet while working 80 hours a week. Will the servers still be tipped on the value of the meal and their hard work? Knowing human nature, even some people who can afford to dine out might feign a reduced state of financial affairs. But the “right” that Mr. Sanders espouses must be upheld. The restaurant owner must respect the rights of others even if it means feeding those who cannot afford to pay for their meal. It may sound redundant, but after all, a right declared by Mr. Sanders is a right. Period. It must be respected.

People have other rights as well according to Mr. Sanders. They include free healthcare, and free higher education. And so I presume the Bernie supporters who work at hospitals and universities will be the first in line to willingly forego their salaries under this new order of utopia. If higher education is truly free then the administrators, professors, cafeteria workers, maintenance workers, and janitors must all work for free for there will be no money to pay them.

Such utopian thoughts are invigorating and encourage the imagination. Many other undiscovered rights are still yet to be discovered for the benefit of mankind.

My point is that rights are not to be spoken of lightly. The language of many politicians is intended to confuse. People need to cut through the crap and use their brains. People need to think clearly about these things. I would suggest start by reading a classic book on political or economic philosophy. Email me for suggestions.

Minor point here:  I’ll venture an educated guess – behind his apparent defense of Trump’s Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders after the Red Hen incident in Lexington, Va. is Senator Sanders’ attempt to appear moderate in the face of an ever increasing radicalized (and violent) left-wing – a very real appendage of the Democrat party. It’s his calculated political move to appeal to independents and otherwise civil-minded Democrats who are being turned off by the radical tactics of the deranged Trump haters. This leads me to make an observation: Bernie Sanders is already running for President again.

Frotho