We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
- Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
You also see the problem with founding a nation, as America is founded, on the principle that human beings are rights-bearing creatures. That they are. But if that is all they are, batten down the hatches.
If our vocabulary is composed exclusively of references to rights, a.k.a. entitlements, we are condemned to endless jostling among elbow-throwing individuals irritably determined to protect, or enlarge, the boundaries of their rights.
- George Will, October 11, 2009
The Founding Fathers' fatal flaw: not consulting George Will first.
Callling today's column by George Will an epic FAIL would be an insult to, well, FAIL itself.
Rather I think of it more as a stinking pile of...
I imagine Will sitting in his office, ensconced in a personal 1st Amendment cocoon, writing this colum, exercising his speech as a "member" of the "press", and basking in the worship of the assembled Villagers who have firmly established him as Archbishop of the Church of George.
And he's saying, I've got mine, the rest of you be damned!
Mr. Will will need to excuse my "annoyed vigilance" after these past eight years. The previous occupant established a legal framework that sought: indefinite detention without charge or trial; unreasonable searches and seizures; the infliction of cruel and unusual punishments; and the removal all avenues of redress through the suspension of habeas corpus.
And from those whom we've elected to protect and defend those rights, all we've gotten so far is a Congress that absolves past transgressions and gives immunity to the violators of our rights.
So, please excuse this liberal rights talker for demanding some vigilance. For if rights come with some responsibilities, then those elected, whose responsibility is to protect those rights, have fallen down on the job. It now rests with us to raise the ruckus.
And you can dispense with the false equivalency to the town hallers. I didn't need some corporate organization to give me shouting points. I'm not rattling off lies about what legislation and legal briefs do or do not say. And as more of the record of the past occupant comes to light through those rights destroying Freedom of Information Act requests, the greater the vindication of my vigilance becomes.
Somehow, through Will's analysis of the trivial poutrages of my day, I'm supposed to see the greater error of my ways. Our benevolent leader, His Holiness Archbishop Will, has spoken. Thomas Jefferson and his ilk were a bunch of morons, and don't you forget it.