And a happy monday morning to you too.

I love history. U.S. history in particular. Now when I read about it it just makes me go, “What the hell happened!?”

If you really want to get cranked up, I suggest reading the classic, “Common Sense” by T. Paine. It just about makes me cry with frustration when I look at how and why this grand experiment started versus what its become. We really should stop lying to our selves and just put the B.O.R. and the Constitution in the Smithsonian under a plaque that reads “It was a neat idea”.

You’ll have to excuse me now. My government watcher is telling me that my Soylent Green is ready. Mmmmm. Tastes like “freedom”.

Turkish Prawn

The various offenses against the first and second amendment are readily found online. Basically look for any case where the ACLU or NRA lost. The fifth amendment has been repeatedly trampled upon during my lifetime, most recently and glaringly regarding non-POW detainees held by the federal government in Cuba and elsewhere. The sixth has a long history of neglect, again most recently and glaringly regarding non-POW detainees held by the federal government in Cuba and elsewhere. The right to a trial by jury in civil matters through binding arbitration clauses in a variety of types of contracts. The ninth and tenth amendments were likely the first casualties, having been trod upon every time the federal legislature exerts its interstate commerce powers as the “elastic clause.” The ninth means you should be able to smoke dope under federal law. The tenth means you should be able to smoke dope under state law if your state’s OK with it. That’s the “off the top of my head” version.

Anybody reading this can go fire up a search engine and spend a couple minutes confirming or refuting any of these points as they see fit. It’s still, nominally, a free country, after all.