Posted on 01/28/2013 5:59:06 AM PST by Kaslin
We all know the term "The Bill of Rights" which are the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution although few of us (including me) could name them.
Hint: None of them start "Thou shalt not …" Rather they tend to start "The Government (or Congress) shalt not …" Keep that in mind.
The First Amendment is a catch-all of rights upon which the Congress may not trample: It protects an individual's freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press, as well as the right to assemble and to petition the government.
The American press corps is very, very focused on the First Amendment and will go to great lengths to make sure that right is not diminished.
Similarly the Fifth Amendment is often a show stopper. The money clause in the Fifth Amendment is, of course the clause against self incrimination.
In practice, according to Black's Law Dictionary, the Fifth Amendment "requires the government to prove a criminal case against the defendant without the aid of the defendant as a witness against himself."
The Tenth Amendment, in total, reads:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
This was dropped in to protect the notion of "Federalism" and might have been attempting to strike a balance between an all-powerful central government (read, George III) and a totally useless central government (read, Articles of Confederation).
The Amendment that is on everyone's lips these days is, of course, the Second: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
We walked through those to show the vast range of protective language the founders found necessary to include even after they had finished the body of the Constitution itself.
There are no unfettered rights. As we have discussed many times, the First Amendment does not protect your right to "falsely shout 'fire' in a crowded theater" (as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes is often quoted has having written in U.S. v. Schenck).
Anyone who as ever watched more than a few frames of a CSI episode knows that the Fifth Amendment prohibition against self-incrimination can be overturned by almost any judge issuing a warrant that allows the police to take a cheek swab to get your DNA.
The Second Amendment doesn't mean that any device that fires a projectile through a barrel as the result of a chemical reaction (known in higher scientific circles as "going boom") is protected.
Howitzers, for instance, are not protected. Nor are .50 caliber machine guns, among others.
Watching cable news chat shows tells us how important that Freedom of Speech thing is. The ownership of a network might, under public pressure, remove a host for what it considers to be egregious speech, but the government can't do it.
In the early days of the Iraq War a Country group called the Dixie Chicks publicly denounced the war in general and President George W. Bush in particular leading to radio stations around the country to stop pushing their songs and former fans to stop attending their songs.
You didn't have to like what the Dixie Chicks said, but you were limited in what you could to do express that dissatisfaction. Demanding the government toss them in the slam is not among them.
Compare and contrast to Vladimir Putin's reaction to a girl group in Moscow having put on an impromptu concert in opposition to his government. Into the Slaminski they went.
The battle over the Second Amendment will, in spite of a well-orchestrated effort to diminish or remove it by the American Left, end the same way the battle over the First and Fifth Amendments ended during the "Hollywood Black Listing" days of the late 1940s - early 1950s in spite of the overwhelming desire for the American Right to limit them.
When it comes down to it, the most important Amendment in the Bill of Rights is any Amendment with which you, or I disagree. That means someone else's rights are being protected - against you or me
Remember that the 2nd protects the other 9.
Many Americans and almost all of the mainstream media share a misconception about the Constitution.
The misconception is that the Constitution is about the people, it is not. The Constitution is solely about how the central government is to function within the herein granted powers.
Howitzers, for instance, are not protected. Nor are .50 caliber machine guns, among others.
Sorry, but this line is dead wrong. If the second amendment is to allow us to be able to overthrow a government gone rogue, then we have a duty to possess ANY weapon our government agencies possess, and this includes machine gun, cannon, mortar, grenades, tank, aircraft and warships...
an interesting point is that during the revolutionary war, the fledgling United States of America LEASED warships and cannon from private owners.
It would appear that we had more freedom under the crown than we do today....
If we can open the Second for further infringement, we can also open up the First. If we are going to restrict firearm magazines, I say we can restrict vile magazines like Hustler to no more than 10 pages. After all, who really needs more than 10 pages of Hustler?
Then I suggest we follow Mayor Bloomberg’s magazine ban plan: 30 to 10 to 7 to “five or six” to 3 to 1 to ZERO, pages that is.
‘Howitzers, for instance, are not protected. Nor are .50 caliber machine guns, among others. ‘
Disagree! Theres nothing in the 2nd that says or implies this. In fact it was common for private individuals to own arty pieces during our early history. The only restriction was the depth or your pockets.
The commies know that if the 2nd amendment falls so do the rest...
Howitzers, for instance, are not protected. Nor are .50 caliber machine guns, among others.
Wrong. There is no qualifier. Arms are arms. The amendment says that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. All those qualifications about howitzers and machine guns are legislative infringements. Admit of any "qualifications" and you negate the amendment because, like the million dollar proposal to the lady, it establishes what it is and now the discussion is about price.
Those who are horrified at the thought of machine guns being part of the referenced "arms" and think that surely you can't mean that have already compromised the amendment and are just arguing about where the line should be drawn, perhaps nothing deadlier than nerf guns are protected, perhaps nothing at all. The limiter on Constitutional arms possession is, of course, the market. I can't afford a howitzer.When the arms get bigger and, to some, scarier, the Constitutionalist mindset of even conservatives (Hannity, etc) turns to jelly.
The right of free speech, unlike the RKBA, is limitable. The 1st says Congress shall make no law..." thus other government entities and private parties are not prohibited from limiting free speech (and the press and religion), but Congress is so prohibited.
The 2nd Amendment is prima facie the amendment considered the most important by the Founders. They worded it to admit of NO limitations. They did not add a "common sense" clause or an "of course that doesn't mean..." clause.
Yes they are. Read US vs. Miller and read the Federalist papers, the letters of marque that have been appointed, and especially the written orders of Boston's British contengent to the Brits whom marched upon Lexington and Concord (detailed listing of items to be seized and destroyed = cannons).
Now you know why I said in the posting.
For argument’s sake, how about a nuclear weapon? If anyone can afford one, is it their right to privately own one?
What an idiot. None of them start with "The government..." and only one begins with "Congress..."
The 2nd Amendment is the “teeth” or guarantor of the Bill of Rights.
Yes, there are unfettered rights; you can see this in the legal world, sometimes, where a litigant presses a claim against another for violating their mutually binding contract (thus claiming rights under the contract).
The government has been attempting to fetter these rights, and has succeeded in corrupting a surprising amount; consider income tax withholdings: either the government is taking while it is not yours (in which case the employer is not paying the agreed wage), or the government is taking it from you, even before you touch it (in which case the government is stealing from you) -- yet withholdings are commonplace and, therefore, considered legitimate by our justice-system.
In like manner most of the other items in the bill of rights have been eroded to virtually nothing. Consider just the 4th: the TSA's screening, no-knock raids, DUI checkpoints.
Gee, and all this time I thought the 16th Amendment was THE most important of all.
It allows the government to take our hard earned money at will and give us all the wonderful programs and goodies we all so need.
It also gives those in power the ability to control us like sheep. Every now and then they throw us a bone in the form of “tax breaks or refunds” just to keep us happy and not make a stink about how much they are stealing from us.
But...it’s worth it!
The American press corps is very, very focused on the First Amendment and will go to great lengths to make sure that right is not diminished.
The author's bias/prejudice/blindness shows through. When citing the FIRST amendment, he is wrong about the very first thing in the very first amendment that is removed from government intrusion.
If one goes to the amendment, it says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
The penultimate freedom is religion and our God-given right to follow God.
And it makes sense, for it is God who decrees life, self-protection, truth in relationships and dealings with one another.
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