Hear the audio version here (segments older than 3 weeks may be unavailable)

I remember writing a column a year or two ago about a convention of animal rights activists who were demanding that we extend human rights to dolphins.  As shocked as some were to see such a ridiculous proposition as that being made, they convinced themselves that such a belief was the mere product of the fringe elements of the left.  This wasn't mainstream left-wing thought, right?

Well, he hasn't spoken to the dolphin issue, but Obama's former green jobs czar Van Jones has popped up again to advance an equally ridiculous belief: the "rights of the earth."  Just coming off Earth Day (the liberal Christmas), it couldn't be better timing.

According to Fox News (the only news agency willing to cover the story), Jones is helping, "to push for a new, global architecture of environmental law that would give Mother Nature the same rights status as humans."  Actually, anyone who understands the left knows this isn't anything new - it's the same old collectivist ideas that seek to strip power from the individual...just wrapped in an eco-friendly paper.

John Hayward lays it bare:

The "Rights of the Earth" movement is one of the greatest travesties against justice ever conceived.  The point of the exercise is to create a code of compulsive law in defense of an omnipresent constituency - all of Nature - which cannot speak for itself.  The high priests of the movement will do the speaking, and a massive cadre of bureaucrats will gain tremendous power by converting their words into law.

Now, some of you bright ones out there might be thinking, "Oh, well two can play at this game!  If the Earth is to be treated like humans, than it can be held responsible like humans.  So the next time a volcano, hurricane or tornado wipes out a city, warm up the lawyers!"  Sorry...

There will be no reciprocal obligations placed upon the Earth.  Citizens will not be able to sue Nature for wiping out their homes in a flood, or starving them with a drought.  Corporations will be able to purchase indulgences from the priesthood of the all-powerful State. but they won't come cheap.

Again, all this movement boils down to is the same old, tired effort of Marxist/socialists to control your life by destroying liberty.  But the word "Marxist" doesn't play well here.  Though some are becoming more bold about it, crusading as a socialist won't get you very far with Americans. 

But prating on about the "rights" of this or that gets people to sit up and pay attention.  Everyone wants to be on the side of rights.  And if you can throw something uber-hip like planetary awareness and environmental consciousness in there too, your warm embrace from mush-minded hipsters everywhere is assured. 

They won't even bother to notice that behind the delightful trappings of your Earth celebrations are the policies that undermine their liberty, destroy their freedom and shackle their minds.