I was just checking some personal email–culling it, really.
Without prepping myself for the topic by reviewing today’s Senate shenanegans first (a bad idea) I fired off a note to citizenlink@family.org, an on-line offshoot of Focus on the Family Citizen, a greatly written and well researched little monthly.
In the spirit of spontaneity, here it is:
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Senate Bill 1, Hate Crimes legislation, etc. Rights continue to be assaulted, arrogant people in power seem to think they can “just do it” when their turn at crafting law comes around, and “we the people” are supposed to go along with it.
So, let’s just wait a minute here. Why is this happening? We the people, way back yonder, refused to ratify the original Constitution until even more controls were put on government. Hence the Bill of Rights. Once that was incorporated as the first ten amendments to the Constitution states began signing on and we soon enough had a working Constitution as our foundation.
In that Constitution we have Article V, as I recall, that lays out the procedures for amending that fundamental piece of writ, a system spelled out to keep government under control when it comes to tampering with our most fundamental document. It’s the people and the states that have the punch in this area.
So, our rights are not “granted” by government. They are not created, given, or allowed by government. Our rights to religion and speech and the written word and peaceful assembly and petitioning our government are irrevocable unless the First Amendment is counteracted like the Volstead act (Prohibition) was.
The only way to override or nullify an amendment is to re-amend the former with a newer, state-ratified and congress approved honest-to-goodness amendment! Period!
Am I the only one in the world who sees this???
So, here we have renegade Supremes ruling by diktat, making amendment-grade redefinitions of clearly and originally-written speech and religion and assembly (not to mention property and 10th amendment) rights with total impunity. Here we have wigged-out leftists passing laws, or threatening to pass laws, such as SB1 and/or hate speech, and they’re still walking freely among us. Rightists are capable of the same–it just happens to be leftists at the moment.
For clarity: the Supremes and our legislators all take an oath to defend the Constitution. That oath is part of being sworn in. That’s a legal and binding contract. Once sworn in they’re on the job, for all intents and purchases, and they draw benefits and salaries and perks. Those add up to ten thousand dollars or so pretty quickly and climb from there.
So, to the point: engaging in a witnessed verbal contract, then taking cash and other things of value as the remunerative part of fulfilling the contract, yet not only not fulfilling the contract but actually ignoring and violating the contract by overtly attacking the Constitution…well, that’s fraud. And when the amounts of money or in-kind benefits, etc, hit a certain level, the fraud crosses a very clear line into the realm of Felonyville.
We’re talking filmed, photographed, signed and broadcasted felonies on a major scale here.
So, my question: why in the world are we not swearing out felony arrest warrants on these clowns on an hourly basis? Much as the gods in power would like to say they’re exempt, they are not, not, NOT exempt from prosecution for criminal activity. Felony theft is a criminal activity. Please answer me with something believable and not “just because that’s the way it’s done.”
Because if “that’s the way it’s done” then just stop doing it for a while until the prosecutions and sentencings are completed in the first wave of, say, 5000 criminal trials nationwide. What’s happened in Congress and the courts, mostly since Ronald Reagan, shows we’re not gonna get any better, so let’s just call it off while the trials run their course. White Collar crime isn’t the point here. It’s Mafia type sentencing we’re looking at, with forfeiture of pay and benefits, paying restitution, and enduring a lifetime ban from government employment or benefits of any kind and the sacrifice of all voting rights (city, county, state and national), as for as long as the bozos shall live.
I am not nuts. This is basic law, and the clowns who would make constitutional rights something for only the earls and lords to enjoy have to be stopped like a bug on a windshield. Who’s up to it??
Looking forward to your answer,
UPDATE 1.21.07–no response to date
What prompted that, really, was this article here. It’s another phase in the ramping-up of our new open-minded Congress. So, ramping up to what, you say? Why, the all-out government sanctioned revocation of free speech altogether! But that won’t fully happen until 2008, so don’t get a-twitter yet.
I’m giving you a link, but here’s the article itself just in case the link breaks. You’ll never know. The government may be listening.
01-16-2007
Hate-Crimes Legislation Reappears
by Pete Winn, associate editor
The real question is: Will the president veto the bill?
A new hate-crimes bill introduced earlier this month in Congress may eventually pass both Houses, pro-family experts say. The president’s help may be needed to keep it from becoming law.
The House Judiciary Committee has begun consideration of H.R.254, sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. The legislation is similar to measures passed by the House in 2005 and by the Senate in 2004.
The Lee bill seeks to establish a new federal offense for hate crimes and would mandate a separate federal criminal prosecution for state offenses tried under its provisions. A sentence of life imprisonment could await those convicted.
Focus on the Family Action, and other pro-family groups, oppose the bill.
“We oppose hate-crimes laws because they do not equally protect all Americans as the U.S. Constitution demands,” said Tom Minnery, senior vice president of government and public policy for Focus on the Family Action.
“The job of our law-enforcement agencies and courts is to punish crime, not thoughts. We must seek justice for those who are victims of violence, absolutely, but not by passing a law that tramples Americans’ right to free thought.”
Minnery said it is ironic that the House is considering this bill today — the very day President Bush has declared Religious Freedom Day.
“America was founded on religious freedom, and our future greatness as a nation depends on it. H.R. 254 threatens that future by not aggressively prosecuting criminal acts, but by giving Washington the power to decide what constitutes criminal thought.”
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, the nation’s largest network of ex-gay ministries, said the objection to hate-crimes legislation isn’t just theoretical — it has actually been used to prosecute Christians for their beliefs about homosexuality, both in the U.S. and internationally.
“In Philadelphia, 11 Christians were jailed for sharing a message from the Bible to a crowd of people attending a public pro-gay event,” he said.
“Preachers have been fined or jailed in Canada and Sweden for quoting passages from the Bible about homosexuality. In England, a Christian was thrown in jail for passing out pamphlets with Bible verses condemning homosexual activity.”
Chambers said it is essential Congress reconsider its support for hate-crimes legislation.
“The freedom to live our lives in a manner consistent with our faith-based beliefs is precious and so is the ability to share truth with others,” he added.
But Amanda Banks, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said that, based upon previous votes in both the House and Senate, the bill will likely pass both chambers if it is brought up for a vote.
“We’re going to have to rely on the president to veto this anti-faith, anti-family legislation,” she told Family News in Focus.
The problem is — President Bush has not faced a viable hate-crimes bill while he has been in office, and no one knows for sure what he will do. That makes it all the more important to take action.
“Please call the president and ask him to veto any hate crimes legislation that may reach his desk,” Banks said.
TAKE ACTION
1. Please contact your representative and ask him/her to oppose HR 254, the hate-crimes bill. For more about the bill, and help in contacting your lawmakers, please see the CitizenLink Action Center.
2. Call the White House comment line and ask President Bush to veto any hate-crimes legislation that reaches his desk, 202-456-1111
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
