I'm offended - Vanity

Self ^ | 11/28/2001 | Brytani

[Straight Vermonter]

1. The ACLU offends me. From their defense of NAMBLA, to their ridiculous notion that non-citizens have the same rights as citizens of this country, to their defense of the abortion industry. I should file suit against them in Federal Court and force them to shut down, after all, I am offended.

Our rights are not granted to us by virtue of our citizenship. They are natural rights which know no borders. At least that was the idea our founders had.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

[firewalk]

Hope my statements don't offend you ;-)

Great post! Thank you!

[Psalm 73]

Great essay.
The only thing (and it's small) that I don't agree with entirely is: "... notion that non-citizens have the same rights as citizens of this country..."
My views are the same as those of the poster a few comments back, with the caveat:
In the current instance I see the Arab detainees in question as not civil criminals but war criminals, and should be treated as hostile combatants who just happen to not be wearing uniforms (against the Geneva Convention mind you).
Other than that, I agree 100%

[Brytani]

Currently the ACLU has filed suit in Federal Court to force the US Military to provide prisoners of war in Afghanistan with the same legal rights as prisoners in this country. First, in time of war the Geneva Convention applies (as you pointed out). Never in our history have we given prisoners of war the same civilian rights as American Citizens (ie, the right to a trial by a jury of their peers, the right to request bail, the right to a speedy trial). Yet, this is what the ACLU believes we should be doing.

[Revelation 911]

Im offended no one has horsewhipped you for this vanity

[ThreeOfSeven]

Unfortunately, a group with media power and political muscle can manipulate public opinion to establish pc orthodoxy and pull politician's strings to enact its agenda into law.

[eureka!]

Didn't Ted Nugent write this? ;^)

Seriously, nicely done. I'm similarly offended...

[bwteim]

Vanity posts deeply offend me and my dogs, Brytani. </ grin>

[MissAmericanPie]

Wanna hurt the ACLU? Stop buying Ford's who is one, if not the biggest, funder of the ACLU.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[EdReform]

Bump!

[calmseas]

In the current instance I see the Arab detainees in question as not civil criminals but war criminals, and should be treated as hostile combatants who just happen to not be wearing uniforms (against the Geneva Convention mind you).

This is a dead-on analysis of the current situation and deserves to be repeated. These people are not criminals in the manner of a thug who breaks into your house and beats your dog and kicks your wife; these are war criminals.

And they should not be treated as POW's exactly because they are not wearing a uniform which would declare their hostile intent.

[Mopp4]

Our rights are not granted to us by virtue of our citizenship. They are natural rights which know no borders. At least that was the idea our founders had.

I agree with Brytani's post but I would have to disagree with your statement. I believe that the founders wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for the people of the country they were trying to create - this did not include the rest of the world. A citizen is granted the protection of the state or country in which they were born. If a citizen of another country comes to this country and commits crimes, they certainly are not entitled to the same "rights" of someone who was fortunate enough to be born in this country.
What do you think happens to a U.S. Citizen who commits a crime in Mexico and tries to claim their "rights".

[Teacher317]

I think that the statement would be better served by changing the word 'rights' to 'entitlements'.... but of course, in the mind of the Left entitlements ARE rights, so I can see how the author might have been confused momentarily. ;^)

[Straight Vermonter]

Your views would make many a dictator smile. If our rights are granted to us by the constitution and not by the creator than they are not truly rights. They are merely "allowances" that our government makes for us. Fortunately, our rights are not given to us by the constitution or the government but are the natural rights of man. We give the government permission to take some of our rights in order to provide for a common defense and to provide order over chaos. The constitution does not give us rights but rather spells out what rights we allow the governemtn to "borrow".

You mention Americans trying to assert their rights in a foreign country. Just because a foreign government has usurped power from the citizens does not mean the people do not have those rights. It simply means that the government, through force, has blocked them from exercising their rights. Blacks in this country did not have the ability to assert their human rights in this country at one time but that is not the same as saying they did not have these rights.

I encourage you to read John Locke's Second Treatise on Government. He spells out these principles far better than I am able to.

[Mopp4]

SV - you make some good points - I'd like to check out Locke's book. I agree that our "rights" have been granted by the creator. The founders acknowledged this and sought to guarantee that we would not be denied those rights by any form of Government. By being born in this country, we are entitled to that protection.
I still think that someone from another country is not automatically entitled to that protection. If they are, then there is no real meaning to "United States Citizen". Thanks for the reply and your opinion.

[gnarledmaw]

The Library of American Freedoms

I have them and have read about half way through. An investment you wont regret.

[maxwell]

I'm offended I can't smoke in this laboratory. Oh well, that's what whiskey's for...

[OWK]

I am offended that the right to Free Speech as well as Freedom of Religion has been removed from anyone attending a public school.

I am offended that more conservatives don't realize that the very EXISTENCE of public schools violates our rights to free speech and religion.

Public schools rely on government force to make people pay for the advancement of ideas they do not share or condone. That is foundationally immoral.

If conservatives spent half as much time trying to get rid of public schools altogether, as they did trying to bend an inherently immoral institution to their own purposes, the world would be a better place.