Imagine your neighbor is screaming his head off all night, keeping you wide-awake. So you call the police to complain and they go to the neighbor?s house and warn him that he will face legal consequences if he doesn?t stop. Now, imagine you call the police and they tell you that this man is very rich and very important, so he can do whatever he wants in his own house. The first scenario is how progressives see the world. The second scenario is how conservatives see the world.In the conservative worldview, the rich and powerful should be able to do whatever they want, because they are the ones who keep the economy going, and they deserve special treatment. Maybe that?s why they cut veteran?s benefits. Maybe that?s why they don?t care about environmental decay and pollution. Maybe that?s why they don?t care about affordable housing for the poor. It really doesn?t matter to them. They might even give to charity, but they won?t stand for it if anyone tells them they HAVE to do anything for anyone else.
When challenged (by progressives, mainly) to give something back to society, the rich and their conservative allies vilify those progressives as ?socialists,? ?communists,? or the ?Hate America First Crowd.? This, even though progressives are simply trying to protect the right to life, liberty, and property of other people, even if those people don?t have a dime to their name. This is because progressives are the ones who truly respect and uphold the principles set forth in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Admittedly, these documents were quite revolutionary for the time. A bunch of wealthy, white, landowners, some of whom owned slaves, actually said that people were entitled to life and liberty. No one could kill you, and no one could take your property to meet his or her own needs. We?d all have to learn to live together under a system of laws. This is not communism, and not socialism; it is simply respecting the equal rights of everyone in society. This is also something the conservative movement of the last thirty years has fought to eradicate. Because they think that they are special, and therefore deserve special rights and privileges, their worldview finds that fairness and equality are actually BAD things. To understand this worldview better, let?s take a look at several key Amendments in the Bill of Rights and see how the conservative movement really views them.
Amendment I
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.
The conservative movement believes that not all speech is legitimate, especially if it challenges their worldview, and especially in times of war, when it is needed the most. They also seem to despise the free press, calling it ?liberally-biased?, because it dares question their movement at all, even when it gives them 50% of the debate, even if they aren?t equally providing the facts. Furthermore, many in the conservative movement believes that their faith should be favored by the government, and that any efforts to broaden the concepts and traditions to cover other faiths, are somehow a threat to them, even though the Constitution clearly states government neutrality on religion.
Amendment II
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.
The conservative movement is clearly a big fan of this Amendment. But they piggyback on it as proof that they do really support the Bill of Rights. As a result, they reject any evidence that may suggest that in certain situations, some people should not be allowed to own deadly weapons, and that some deadly weapons exceed what is reasonable in order to protect the life and liberty of others.
Amendment IV
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.
The conservative movement currently says that in a time of terrorism or war, that this right can be violated via secret wiretaps. During the Cold War, they said we needed secret searches to find ?communists.? Today, they claim that ?terrorists? provide new justification to sneak into our private lives, even without court authorization. Maybe what they really want to do is to dig up dirt on their critics, or anyone who doesn?t agree with their reactionary agenda?
Amendments VI & VII
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 wherein 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. 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 reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
The conservative movement found a way around this: better ?justice? for those with more money. In other words, wealthy people who can afford a lawyer ? or a team of lawyers ? get a fair trial. Others might get an underpaid and overworked public defender, who might encourage them to accept a plea bargain even if they are innocent. In this system, if you aren?t wealthy you stand a far greater chance of being convicted of crimes you didn?t commit. In this system, convictions don?t necessarily mean actually bringing those responsible for the crime to justice. In order to house all these poor people (and minorities), conservatives argue for endless spending on prisons. Currently, those facilities house more African Americans than American colleges and universities do.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Cruel and unusual punishment is frequent in our prison system, yet conservatives are more concerned that prisoners get to watch TV, work out, and learn useful skills for when they return to society, than whether or not the system is fair. Subsequently, conservatives argue for a wildly unfair and discriminatory death penalty system. They seem to care more about putting people ? even innocent ones ? to death, rather than spending the time and money to make sure they get it right.
This is just a short list highlighting conservatives? contempt for the Constitution and Bill of Rights. They are waging a war on liberty, and now, more than ever, we must fight them before they take our most fundamental rights away from us.
When my kids grow up I hope they know I tried to fight it.
The voice of Progressive Virginia continues to be heard.
IMO as long as Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly and Savage say things like "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder", Dan here can say anything he damn well wants about Republicans. Especially when he backs it up with the Constitution.