[Jacquerie]

Yeah, the 17th was an incredible mistake. That decade was awful. WWI, the 16-18th Amendments fundamentally changed the relationship between citizen and government. FDR was a constitutional catastrophe.

As for our rights and the 9th Amendment, it was only this past summer that I did some serious reading as to its background.

I came to appreciate much more the times and education of our founders/framers and how close we came to losing the Revolutionary War. There isn't a single throw away line in either the Declaration or Constitution.

“That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men” is a near forgotten clause. It means that the purpose of government is to secure our Unalienable, Natural Rights and nothing else!

During the ratification debates in the individual states, nine of them required additional rights be added to the Constitution. Defense of our Natural Rights was a common demand and it appeared in the final bill as the 9th Amendment.

A close examination of the Constitution shows that it “flows” directly from the Declaration in that our Founders and people in the several states were deeply concerned with our Natural, God given rights that are superior to man made law.

As demonstrated by tyrannies throughout history, they get into trouble and lose popular support when they deprive the people of their Natural Rights.

IMHO, the Natural Rights enumerated are: Exclusive right to the profit of one’s writings and inventions, habeas corpus, freedom of the press, speech, the right to peacefully assemble, keep and bear arms, to petition our government, to be secure in our persons, paper and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, speedy public trial, to be confronted by the witnesses against us.

In addition are negatives that would infringe on our Natural Rights, protection against ex-post facto laws, double jeopardy, self incrimination, deprivation of life, liberty or property without due process, taking of private property for public use without just compensation, excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishment.

Our government is rapidly closing in on additional abuses of our Natural Rights. Without specifically knowing the Ninth, the people innately see the danger, that something is very wrong and want to stop Obama.

[Phlyer]

IMHO, the Natural Rights enumerated are: . . .

Sorry, but I'm a Constitutional literalist. There is no "opinion" about the enumerated rights. They are or they are not listed and explicit. That's what makes them 'enumerated' rights.

Obviously, most of your list can indeed be found in the Constitution, including (as you correctly point out) in the body of the Constitution and not just in the Bill of Rights. But just as you cannot 'create' an enumerated right, so if you are attempting to 'enumerate' them (by saying something like "The . . rights enumerated are:") you can't leave any out . . .unless you're trying to say that things not in your list, though 'enumerated' are not 'Natural' in some way - a distinction that I don't find particulary compelling.

Why go on about something where we agree on the underlying issue that "Governments are instituted among Men . . to secure these Rights"? Because the underlying problem is in the loose and government-serving (rather than serving the people) interpretation of the words as written. Your argument would be stronger, at least to me, if you focused it on what the Constitution says rather than using part of what the Constitution says as justification for something that the Constitution does not, in fact, mention (like "Natural Rights" as a phrase).