An Unpatriotic Act
by Ted
Lang, Associate Editor
October 4, 2002
The
addendum to the United States Constitution (right) consisting of the first ten
amendments termed the "Bill of Rights" was added to the Constitution not only
as an afterthought, but as a necessity to secure ratification by the joint and
several states. Those states felt that the Constitution, created to strengthen
the loose and somewhat wishy-washy Articles of Confederation, would give the
central government unbridled power to grow. Clearly, the Bill of Rights is a
preventative measure; it doesn’t give us rights as much as it prevents government
from taking them.
The right to defend ourselves from government is more important than that right being used to protect us from criminals. That is why the Second Amendment allows us to buy, accumulate, and carry guns. It gives us the ability to fight powerful, armed government troops and agencies that could be used to force despotic, tyrannical rules upon us.
If you were asked what kind of government we had, you’d probably answer incorrectly, "A democracy." A majority of Germans agreed with Hitler’s policies. We were a republic, which means we were a self-governing nation acting through our representatives. And neither the majority nor the government could infringe or take away our God-given individual rights as expressed in our Declaration of Independence and protected by our Bill of Rights.
If one assesses the order of the prohibitions precluding tyrannical government in the Bill of Rights, we can easily discover the mindset of the Founders. First, people think revolution. Then they talk with one another and assemble at meetings to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Hence, the First Amendment prohibiting government from silencing dissent, meetings and suppressing fact and information being disseminated to the people.
If government decides to break up such meetings and assemblies, contrary to the rule of law of the land, then the people have a right to take up arms to protect themselves from government force. Hence the right of the people to buy, own and carry guns. It can be added in this regard, that when a police state already exists, this amendment then becomes the most important one!
Next in the scheme of a tyrannical government determined to prevent a state comprised of free and independent individuals, government troops may be stationed in such meeting places as well as in the homes of dissenters. Hence the Third Amendment. And government is not permitted to search and seize writings, books, records and such without "probable cause." Warrants must be obtained under oath from judges describing their intent.
Arrested citizens cannot be forced to testify against themselves. This prevents the use of torture, and requires the government to prove why a citizen is being held prisoner, and precludes the confiscation of property; hence, the Fifth Amendment and so on.
Now let’s take a look what the Bush administration has maneuvered through Congress. The USA Patriot Act abolishes the "probable cause" requirement of the Fourth Amendment. Federal police, and local law enforcement if empowered by the president or the Attorney General, can search your home or business, go through your records, files and financial papers, not only without a warrant, but without ever telling you they did this!
And if the president or the government doesn’t like what you say, you’re outta’ here! It’s jail time! No warrant, no indictment, no trial by jury; no cruel and unusual punishment! You are no longer innocent until proven guilty! And being held without charges violates habeas corpus, established in Article 1, Section 9, paragraph 2 of the Constitution. Bush and Congress just suspended that as well. This is only permitted in cases of "rebellion" or "invasion."
Whether Congress deliberately intended this or not is no longer a relevant question – all our "rights" are gone. And there is no schedule for their restoration. So if anyone asks you what kind of government we have, you are now up to speed. ***
© 2002 Ted Lang Publications
COPYRIGHT © 2002 BY THE AMERICAN PARTISAN. All writers retain rights to their work.