35% Right: Wouldn’t That Fail You In School?

In honor of July 4th coming up, I am reposting the guest blog that I did for “Insanity Of Life.”  Hope you guys enjoy it.

Holy Fuck.

So out of curiosity I decided to have a look at our Bill Of Rights and see just how many freedoms given to us by the founding fathers were still with us today.  You would be surprised by the results…I was.  Out of the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, only three and one-half are still working for you today.  The rest have been squelched in one way or another by the federal or state governments to the point that they only apply to a small, select portion of the population….if they apply at all.  So that would give the government a grade of 35 on the Bill of Rights test…. If I scored that low on a test, I would fail. 

Unfortunately, this failure means much more to the people of the U.S. than a red “X” on a paper.  It means we are all buttfucked by a parvo-stricken wildebeest….with no reach around.  Damn.  Think I’m joking….let’s go through them one at a time.

1.) Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Well…this is the infamous “Free Speech” mother fucker.  Do we really have this like it was intended?  Sadly we do not.  Movies have to go before rating boards to make sure that they are fit to be watched by the masses.  Rob Zombie’s “House of a Thousand Corpses” comes to mind here.  He was forced to keep editing the movie to keep it from getting an NC-17 rating (a kiss of death for non-pornographic films).  When it was released…it was only a mundane slash flick instead of what had, at earlier prospects, appeared to be an extremely well done piece of horror.  Music cannot be played on public radio if the lyrics are too “offensive.”  Remember though folks, offensive is NOT A FIXED POINT IN SPACE. Christians love baby Jesus…but atheists are offended by him.  You cannot please everybody.  The same thing is happening with books as well now.  The example that I think of first is “Hit Man,” a book that was issued by Paladin Press and outlined the business model needed to become a successful contract killer.  Sadly, this book is no longer available (though free speech advocates have posted the work on the internet to be read for free by whoever wishes.  Check it out here and see if being denied this material is saving your children from future disaster:  http://mirror.die.net/hitman/  ).  Many other books on home manufacturing of explosives and improvised weaponry have also been banned.  You might think that this is good for the public at large…BUT IT IS STILL VIOLATING YOUR RIGHTS ACCORDING TO THE 1ST AMENDMENT.

So…does the First Amendment pass in 2010:  NO.

2.) 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 are all totally screwed with no lube on this one too.  When is the last time you bought a gun?  Really simple huh.  FUCK NO.  After you get your gun, try strapping it onto your belt and walking around the mall with it.  Oh shit…you can’t do that.  Wait…you have to get a permit to even carry the thing?  So what if you want to hide it in your clothes…fuck…another permit for that.  Automatic weapons? Forget that as well.  If you are a felon or owe back child support…nope…no guns for you either.  IS ANY OF THIS SHIT IN THAT AMENDMENT?  Read about a take I had on gun control in a previous post right here: https://millsap.wordpress.com/2010/05/25/post-100-gateway-dangers-of-h-r-2640/  All the retarded hoops you have to jump through to try and exercise your right to bear arms are just the result of the government crushing your abilities to do so.

So…does the Second Amendment pass in 2010:  NO.

 

3.) No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Awesome. Last I checked, none of us had to stuff a National Guardsman into our spare bedroom. Cool.

So…does the Third Amendment pass in 2010:  YES!!!!

4.) The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Though in word only, one would think that we still have this right.  What has happened here is that the definition of “unreasonable” has changed to include all kinds of shit that most of us would consider unreasonable.  People getting pulled over because of the way they look and having their car searched because “people that look like that usually have drugs” would be an example of this.  Random searches by police dogs for drugs would be another example.  What about those “insurance and driver’s license check points?”  If you think about it…the police are stopping everybody just in case someone might be committing a crime.  South Carolina Police raiding a T.V. station to get information used in a story about an officer that failed a polygraph test sounds like an unreasonable search and seizure to me.  What about the Gizmodo iphone raid versus the California journalist shield law?  What about the poor black guy who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?  And now, though I support it for illegal aliens, Hispanic citizens will probably be “reasonably searched” when pulled over to find out if they are in the country legally.  What happens when “middle aged, balding, slightly overweight white dude” becomes a “reasonable’ reason to pull you over a search your car?  Yep…a bunch of ya will be subsequently fucked.

So…does the Fourth Amendment pass in 2010:  NO.

5.) No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

This one is kind of shaky since it covers a bunch of shit in one amendment.  The things here that are no longer applying are a floating definition of “due process of law” and the part about having your shit jacked for public use without compensation.  If all the judges agreed that everyone charged with speeding had to have a rabid jack rabbit shoved mouth first up into their colon…well…that would now become “due process of law.”  Due process now includes all kinds of garbage that strips away rights while you wait to be charged.  The worst and most evil of these that I can think of deals with the CPS (child protective services).  If there is a charge of abuse, the CPS can and will take your children and place them in “protective custody” while they investigate.  This violates the accused parent’s due process.  I was friends with a woman whose children were taken into CPS custody because their father (the custodial parent) at the time failed to get them to school on time consistently.  She spent almost three grand and a year in court to get custody of the kids and have them removed from foster care.  This was not due process for the father or her.  It was, however, total fucking bullshit…and I know for a fact that the kids are worse off because of it.  In many cases, having the CPS intervene is a good thing.  However, a good thing and a constitutional right are mutually exclusive entities, and if we are not careful, we will “good thing” ourselves right into a socialist dictatorship.  That will not be a fucking good thing at all.  The other bullshit abuse of this amendment is the many cases of police seizures of land and cars that were never returned, even after the defendants were found to be not guilty.  Fucking bullshit.

So…does the Fifth Amendment pass in 2010:  Some of it…so ½ Yes!

6.) In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Cool…we still get a lawyer if we cannot afford one, a speedy trial and the rest of the rights provided here.

So…does the Sixth Amendment pass in 2010:  YES!!!

7.) In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Yep…we can still get a jury trial in a civil case.  Great..

So…does the Seventh Amendment pass in 2010:  YES!!!

8.) Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

We are just now losing this one.  Check out my post here about how judges are setting the bail amounts on debt-dodgers to the amount owed.  This means that you can be held on a $2,500 bail amount on a crime that is equal in severity to a traffic ticket.  If that is not excessive bail…I do not know what the fuck is.  Read my post about this problem here:  https://millsap.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/credit-card-jail-i-in-called-this/ 

So…does the Eighth Amendment pass in 2010:  NO.

9.) The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

This has been determined to not add or take away anything to the Constitution by the Supreme Court.  Essentially, this is wasted space in the bill of rights.  The meaning is so vague that no one knows what it means.  Great.

So…does the Ninth Amendment pass in 2010:  NO…but don’t worry….it never did.

10.) 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 amendment, like the Ninth, does not add anything to the Constitution.  It only affirms things that were already in there.  So, this one does nothing for you.  But do not feel bad….it never did, so you have not lost anything.

So…does the Tenth Amendment pass in 2010:  NO…but it never did.

Wow…three and one-half still working for you out of ten. Pretty fucking scary. I have no doubt that we will lose what ones we have left within in the next hundred years. I hope to be proven wrong on that.

~ by millsap on July 2, 2010.