I want to launch an internet meme adapting the quote from
Pastor Niemoeller about the importance of recognizing and standing up to tyranny early on to the current erosion of the
Bill of Rights. Could you all help out in revising it into something powerful?
They came for the tenth amendment but I didn't care because the government needs all the powers it can get to fight terrorism.
They came for the ninth amendment, but I didn't care because most people are idiots.
They came for the eighth amendment, but I didn't care because the government needs to collect revenue and keep the criminals off the street.
They came for the seventh amendment, but I didn't care because juries are expensive and inconvenient.
They came for the sixth amendment, but I didn't care because the government needs to be able to keep its methods of surveillance secret, in order to protect us from terrorists.
They came for the fifth amendment, but I didn't care because towns need to be able to develop, and police need to be able to get a confession.
They came for the fourth amendment, but I didn't care because cars and the internet are not really the same as a home, and the government needs phone records to be able to track terrorists.
They came for the third amendment, but I didn't care because it is a quaint colonial relic.
They came for the second amendment, but I didn't care because guns are icky and surely that right to a well-regulated militia does not mean my neighbor can collect guns.
They came for the first amendment, but I didn't care because Nazis and perverts are disgusting and don't deserve free speech.
Then they came for me...
UPDATE: for a diary that riffs on the same concept, but with links to specific examples of abuses, see here.
Google dredged up a few wheels I seem to have reinvented here and here.
Anyone wanting to play with this meme might consider how much to emphasize the abuses of the current administration, and how much to emphasize all those issues where a lot of people are willing to go along with erosion of various amendments.