Bill of Rights
Over the weekend, and continuing today, the media has reported thousands of Americans from coast to coast protesting their lockdown and the closures of non-essential businesses. Those businesses have employees who consider their jobs to be essential to their survival. They are not happy, and in the streets.
Sharp-eyed individuals who follow current events have no doubt noticed the reportage is remarkably slanted in favor of the “danger” in which the protesters are putting themselves. CNN broadcast a picture of some demonstrators carrying a sign with Trump at the top, a Swastika in the middle and Pence on the bottom, as emblematic of the movement. Unbelievable. It was latter debunked as a sign photographed at a Bernie Sanders rally. Certainly, Bernie would not have approved either. The retraction was slow in coming.
Whether you know it or not, the foundation of the freedom enjoyed in the United States is under assault. In a multitude of states, elected officials are running wild with rules and regulations that are, in their minds, designed to protect their constituents. Our nation’s Bill of Rights is under attack.
Sadly, the public’s education system in the United States doesn’t teach “Civics” in a majority of schools. Enlightening students about this portion of the founding documents has been deemed unnecessary. Some readers may remember it, sitting through an unexciting class about the Constitution, how government worked, and the responsibilities of the state and federal government. To some, as exciting as watching bread rise.
Governor Cuomo of New York has decreed that the state will remain closed until May 31 or longer. New York City Mayor DeBlasio asked citizens to send pictures of those who fail to practice social distancing and participate in large gatherings. Aren’t these referred to as “Minders” in totalitarian countries? Newsom of California ordained that the state cannot open until a system of monitoring “social distancing” in public places is implemented.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News, the New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy, a Harvard graduate, couldn’t answer why he had banned certain activities and business closings that violated the certain provisions contained in the Bill of Rights.
Then there’s Governor Whitmer of Michigan who watched thousands of angry citizens descend on the state capital Lansing protesting her ridiculous edicts, such as banning the purchase of garden seeds.
Some municipalities are using or considering drones as a method to spot those who do not follow the guidelines suggested by executive fiat. This is just one of the draconian actions contemplated by overzealous elected officials. Perhaps it would be a good idea if the elected authorities read the 14th amendment to the Constitution. Section One is as follows:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Pay particular attention to the second sentence, the basis of the current, growing nationwide kerfuffle. The lockdown and job loss may spawn a movement rivaling the “Tea Party” and dwarf the “Antifa” one. As citizens now educate themselves and rediscover their rights under the Bill of Rights, the protester’s name for that new party could be the “Bill O’Rights Party”.