Buckeye RINO

Can we stop with the assaults on the Constitution already?

What impacts us the most noticeably is the erosion of the Bill of Rights because it spells out the rights of American citizens.

Freedom of the press.  Freedom of speech.  Freedom of religion.  Freedom of peaceable assembly.  Freedom to bear arms.  Freedom to remain silent when suspected of a crime.  Freedom to have a jury of your peers decide the outcome of a case when you are tried on criminal charges.  Freedom to not be compelled to testify against yourself in court.  Freedom to have an attorney represent you when you are detained as a suspect.  Freedom to not have your privacy, your domicile, invaded and personal property confiscated during the course of a criminal investigation unless you are presented with a warrant issued by a judge.  Freedom for citizens to retain powers not expressly reserved unto the federal or state governments.

And there are other freedoms beyond these.

Yet they are all under assault.

It’s inconvenient for the Department of Homeland Security to obtain warrants to gain access to private conversations that take place by phone or email.

It’s inconvenient that attendees of a town hall meeting voice disagreement with an elected official.

It’s inconvenient to have a secret agenda that gets sniffed out by the press.

It’s inconvenient that police aren’t the only ones that can bear arms.

It’s inconvenient that a religion might suggest that you commit sin.

It’s inconvenient that you can’t coerce your family members to remain members of the religious denomination they grew up with.

It’s inconvenient that police aren’t able to coerce an admission of guilt from a suspect.

It’s inconvenient that a suspect might request an attorney before agreeing to respond to the questions of the police.

It’s inconvenient to Mirandize suspects.

It’s inconvenient that a prosecutors can’t have a case decided by a judge biased in their favor, and, instead, have it decided by a unanimous verdict from a jury.

It’s inconvenient for a Tea Party gathering to take place just outside a venue where elected officials are trying to drum up support for the policies they want to implement.

And there are other inconveniences, depending on who you are and what coercion you want to exert.

And now the latest fad is to attack the 14th Amendment.  The 14th Amendment is a very useful amendment.  Among the ramifications of the 14th Amendment is that states cannot infringe upon rights granted by the Constitution to citizens.  It’s not contained in the Bill of Rights, but it applies the Bill of Rights to the laws of  every state in the Union.  Most importantly, citizenship could not be withheld from those born on American soil simply because a special interest group, or a state, wanted them excluded.  Large segments of our population would not have been truly free without the 14th Amendment.

The current controversy surrounds “anchor babies,” which are children born on U.S. soil to parents that do not have a legal right to reside here, and the birth of the child allows those illegal immigrants to get a foot in the door.

I think there are other ways to handle illegal immigrants so that they are legally required to leave the United States even after having a baby born here, even a baby who is a U.S. citizen.  A baby who is entitled to be a U.S. citizen.  A baby that has a guarantee of U.S. citizenship.  I may tackle such a proposal in an upcoming blog piece.

But if you are going to repeal an amendment or portion thereof, shouldn’t you choose one that took a measure of freedom away from citizens, such as the 16th Amendment that established an income tax?

I don’t want citizenship withheld from babies born on our soil.  I think it’s dangerous for the integrity of our Constitution to even entertain such a notion.

I don’t want any of our Constitutional rights and freedoms to be curtailed because there are those who find it inconvenient.

Don’t you dare touch the 14th Amendment!  Stop endangering our Constitution!

Our Constitution and the rights it grants are the envy of  billions of individuals who live beyond our borders.  Why in the world do we want to attack it?  Why would we want to nullify portions of it that granted more freedoms to citizens?  It amounts to insanity.  It amounts to stupidity.  It amounts to betrayal.  It amounts to sabotage.  It amounts to Big Brother.  It amounts to oppression.  It amounts to tyranny.  It amounts to the destruction of our republic.

I love our Constitution.  I hold it dear.  Stop messing with it.