Patriot Perspective
Open Thread: Bill of Rights
Today, Dec. 15, is the anniversary of the adoption of the Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to our Constitution, as ratified in 1791.
The Bill of Rights was inspired by three remarkable documents: John Locke's 1689 thesis, Two Treatises of Government, regarding the protection of "property" (in the Latin context, proprius, or one's own "life, liberty and estate"); in part from the Virginia Declaration of Rights authored by George Mason in 1776 as part of that state's Constitution; and, of course, in part from our Declaration of Independence authored by Thomas Jefferson.
Read in context, the Bill of Rights is both an affirmation of innate individual rights and a clear delineation on constraints upon the central government. As oft trampled and abused as the Bill of Rights is, Patriots should remain vigilant in the fight for our rights.
6 Comments
Lorenzo
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 1:33 AM
This is the kind of stuff that needs open news broadcasts. I understand there was a time in this country when publishers printed that kind of stuff.
Howard Last
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 8:40 AM
Now if the crooks and/or mental midgets in Washington and the state capitals would only follow it.Did anyone say Patriot Act?
MNIce
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 11:16 AM
Thank God these things are in amendments rather than the original text. As amendments, they override abusive misconstructions of the main body (e. g., even if Obamacare could be justified under the power to regulate commerce between states, its numerous violations of the fourth, ninth and tenth amendments render it properly null and void. As an amendment, the specified protection of our right to keep and bear arms overrides a treaty to the contrary, i. e., the UN Small Arms Convention. The main text of the Constitution says a treaty is part of the Supreme Law of the Land, but an amendment is superior every time. If the Senate would be so foolish as to ratify the Small Arms Convention, it still could not take effect without a repeal of the Second Amendment.We still face the difficulty of enforcing the Bill of Rights. I suggest that it will be hard to get rid of the PATRIOT Act without proposing a reasonable alternative. I suggest we go in the opposite direction to achieve the same ends: require adult US citizen airline passengers to carry weapons onboard, unless they are otherwise prohibited from carrying them (e. g., convicted felons or declared incompetents). Train all citizens to identify potential terrorist activity, as the Israelis do. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Defense program trained the nation to survive nuclear war; why can we not train the nation to defend itself in this war? Who was the idiot who decided this was only for "professionals"?
Howard Last
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 11:06 PM
MNice - we already have what you propose, The Militia Act of 1792. It was passed by the same Congress that ratified the Bill of Rights.What would have been the outcome if the pilots or passengers were armed on Sept. 11? Ask an anti-gun nut and you will probably get a response like, it would have been worse. Figure that out if you have time to waste.
Damien
Friday, December 16, 2011 at 1:39 AM
http://jonathanturley.org/2011/12/15/obama-breaks-promise-to-veto-bill-allowing-indefinite-detention-of-americans/I posted on the other Bill of Rights column, but I am shocked that the Post did not cover this atrocity of an action. Be aware good people, we are all in danger now- legally, should the feds decide it. No more habeus corpus for you.
A.R. Nash
Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 3:01 AM
Strictly speaking, the amendments are not part of the Constitution in that they do not deal with the constitution of the government, but instead, with limitations on the government, either directly or in the form of rights that the government can't abridge. Ask a big-government-loving liberal why the Bill of Rights exists. Is it to protect the government from the people, or the other way around? Why would the people need protection from the government? Because power corrupts. It's inevitable. It's happens every day in every place where a person who doesn't hate big government holds power.