BILL OF RIGHTS

As most of you know, the first ten amendments to the Constitution comprise what is known as the Bill of Rights.  The BR is an integral part of the Constitution.  After the Revolutionary War many states, particularly the smaller ones, were concerned of being dominated by the larger ones, such as Virginia and NY, and a powerful central government.  In the opinion of most historians, because of this concern some of them were hesitant to ratify the Constitution as it was then written.  The addition of the BR and its guarantee of various rights to protect individuals, assuaged those concerns and enabled the Constitution to be ratified unanimously.  The ratification process is a fascinating story, and if you have any interest in history, I recommend you research it on the various relevant websites.

In this blog I would like to focus on three of those aforementioned rights – freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to bear arms.  Each of these is now under attack.  Ironically, the attack is not coming from the federal government, but from other citizens with the support of much of the media and various state and local governments.  We have been seeing examples of this daily, but in the interest of time and space I will only list a few:

1. The right to bear arms has been under constant attack for many years now.  Some critics favor an outright repeal of this right; others are willing to accept modifications.  It is a complicated issue.  That said, those seeking to ban individuals from owning weapons have been getting more aggressive.  The most obvious and egregious example is illustrated by the story of Mark and Patricia McCloskey.  Last week, they were trying to protect their home from a mob that had gathered on their front lawn.  The mob had broken into the McCloskey’s gated community.  They were threatening to kill them and their dog and destroy their house.  The cops did not respond to their 911 calls.  Luckily, the McCloskeys owned legally-obtained firearms.  They stood on their front porch with the weapons in hand, and told the mob to leave them alone.  Eventually, the mob left.  Despite the guarantees of the second amendment to bear arms the McCloskeys were attacked mercilessly by the far left.  Then, a few days later local authorities raided the McCloskey’s house and confiscated the weapons.  The local prosecutor is threatening to prosecute them.  Neither the Dem mayor nor the GOP governor has interceded on their behalf.  What crime did they commit?  Who knows.  Meanwhile, as I write this, no one in the mob is being prosecuted for anything.  I ask you, what were the McCloskeys supposed to do?  The police had not responded.  Step aside and let the mob have its way?  What would you do if someone were threatening your house, your family, your dog and your very life?  Answer honestly.
2. Recently, there have been many violations of the right to free speech. Individuals are being fired from their jobs and businesses boycotted for saying the “wrong” thing.  Recently, the far left called for a boycott of Goya Foods, a Hispanic-owned company, just because its chairman visited the White House.   Bari Weiss, the former NY Times opinion editor, was terminated because her political views, which are generally centrist, were too conservative for the woke twitter crowd that seems to run the Times.   In her parting shot she opined that “twitter has become the ultimate editor [of the NYT].”  The point here is not whether or not you agree with Weiss’ political views; it is that her right to express them is expressly guaranteed by the BR.
3. Gary Garrels, Senior Curator at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, was accused of being a white supremist and terminated for suggesting that the museum might continue to feature works by Caucasian artists as well as artists of color.
4. The attack on freedom of religion was most evident over the last few months as many governors, under the guise of combatting the spread of the coronavirus, denied worshippers the right to attend church services, even on Easter Sunday and even to listen remotely from their cars in the church parking lot.  Conversely, they had no objection to street “protesters” who gathered in mobs without masks and social distancing, to destroy property and attack people.

CONCLUSION

Make no mistake about it, the BR is under attack.  The far left  is chipping away at it piece by piece.  I believe the perpetrators only constitute a small minority, but they are vociferous and well-organized.   The overwhelming majority of people cannot possibly agree with these attacks, but they have been cowed into submission.  People are afraid that it they speak out they will also be attacked.

This goes for moderate and conservative politicians as well.  President Trump seems to be the only one who is speaking out to condemn these attacks.  By contrast, Biden, Pelosi and the other Dem leaders have been silent, which, to me, constitutes a tacit endorsement.

Where will it all end?  Your guess is as good as mine.  As I have discussed in recent blogs I believe what we are seeing now is just a small sample, a preview, of what will happen if Biden wins the election.

How ironic would it be if after having defeated fascism, communism and terrorism we end up defeating ourselves.  At this rate it could very well happen.

We need a tipping point, a “Joseph Welch” moment, an incident so egregious that the majority will finally step up and say “enough is enough.”  We need to take back our country before it is too late.