eminent domain

while i was offline last week in LA, the supreme court validated what we already sort of knew: the right to own property, the most fundamental tenet of free market capitalism, is truly a right only so long as some really wealthy bastard doesn’t come along and want the property himself. the supreme court ruled that property can be seized by private developers who grease the wheels of democracy with kickbacks and bribes. and no, i am not being facetious here. all they have to do is demonstrate that their development will make more money for the city than your puny house, and the city government can greenlight the caterpillars.
in response, some guy after my own heart is making the moves to tear down supreme court justice david souter’s house and build a hotel on the lot. GENIUS!!!