Left and Right Both Have Split Personalities

Re “High Court Cases Show 2 Sides of Conservatism,” Nov. 28: Liberals and conservatives are equally bipolar on the issue of law and order and limited government. What counts to both is support for their particular and disparate views of social and economic issues.

Forty years ago, liberals cheered the court’s decision in the case of Heart of Atlanta Motel Inc. vs. United States because enforcement of the 1964 Civil Rights Act under the Constitution’s commerce clause became permissible even for a business engaged in “purely” intrastate commerce. Then, the national reach of civil rights law trumped support for local control; now local control trumps the Drug Enforcement Administration when the issue is need for (or love of) cannabis.

At least the Libertarians are consistent on the issue: a plague on both your houses; no control trumps authority at any level.

Gary Tompkins

Lake Arrowhead