When the Constitution was signed, the United States population was 4 million. The founding fathers never envisioned a country from the Atlantic to the Pacific with a population of more than 300 million.
In their wildest dreams, the founding fathers did not envision automobiles, airplanes, television or the internet. And in their wildest dreams, they did not envision an assembly by thousands and thousands of protesters.
When they added the Bill of Rights to the constitution, the founding fathers envisioned an assembly of at most several dozen people. People then traveled on horseback and if an assembly blocked a roadway, one could easily ride around it. If the assembly blocked the entrances of buildings, one could still walk around the edge of the gathering to gain entrance to a workplace or shop.
That was then and this now.
For the past two months, the US has been embroiled in unending mass protests which began with the death of George Floyd at the knee of a Minneapolis cop. Many of the peaceful protests included some rioting in which the police were assaulted and firebombed, historical statues were destroyed, stores were looted, and buildings set on fire.
Even when a mass protest is entirely peaceful, it can be unlawful. If the protesters block a freeway, they are breaking the law. If the protesters are preventing people from going to and from their place of employment, shops or home, they are breaking the law.
When the police try to stop such breaches of the law, the peaceful protesters then throw water bottles and other objects at the cops who are just trying to do their job.
When the founding fathers gave us the right to assemble, there was no media that could inflame the whole nation.
Had the founding fathers envisioned the chaos this country is now experiencing, they might have placed some restrictions on the time of day when and the particular places where people have the right to assemble. And well they should have.
With all due respect, this is ridiculous: “When they added the Bill of Rights to the constitution, the founding fathers envisioned an assembly of at most several dozen people.” Even in the revolutionary war, far before the Bill of Rights, we had gatherings of hundreds if not thousands for protest and other issues.
Thank you Robert, I stand corrected. And instead of saying founding fathers, it would have been better had I said members of congress. But I do not think that changes anything else I said.
Sorry Howie. But you are wrong. Completely, utterly, irrevocable, unredeemably wrong. The founding Fathers did not “give” the people the right to assemble. “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.”
Not that I’m in support, or in favor of violently assaulting other people. And I’m certainly not advocating criminal behavior. But the solution here is to arrest the wrongdoers, not to remove the Rights.
Please try to remember what the Bill of Rights actually is. Those rights were not actually enumerated in the original Constitution simply because the authors didn’t think it was necessary. Those rights are our natural God given rights. They aren’t given out by the Government simply to be taken away if we “misbehave”. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in order to reinforce the idea that those rights precede and preempt Governmental incursion. “Congress shall make NO law. . . abridging. . . . the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” The right is inherent, the government cannot limit it.
Using your same flawed perverse reasoning, we could limit free speech, the right to travel, the right to bear arms, etc.
If people are breaking the law, arrest them. If they are blocking traffic, arrest them. If they are assaulting cops (or civilians) arrest them. If they are committing arson, arrest them. If they are destroying property arrest them.
But, for God’s sake, let’s leave off the Bill of Rights – leave that silliness to the liberals.
The Bill of Rights was written by founding father James Madison, passed by Congress, and ratified by the states in 1791.
The House approved 17 amendments, the Senate approved 12 and the states approved 10.
Fat, I agree with most of what you said. Unfortunately however, hardly any of the unlawful protesters are being arrested and the mobs are ruling the streets of New York, Chicago. Seattle, Portland and other cities, including the nation’s capital.
Howie,
Yup. And that’s the fault of the duly elected mayors and City Councils of those cities. Except for D.C. which is ultimately the responsibility of Congress. Frankly, if I were a resident of Portland, Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis on other city where this madness is happening, I’d be calling, writing, sending e-mails and filing lawsuits to force those elected officials to do their damn jobs. Alternatively, I’d be packing my family and moving to a city and state where adults were still in charge.
But those are local issues and the local residents have to deal with their own issues as they see fit.
Dems aren’t able to deal with losing the civil war. That’s why they continue to fight against the country. They haven’t gotten over it and never will.
There is a significant, motivated and LOUD minority in this country that is willing to use confrontation and mass violence to achieve their political ends. Those ends are the destruction of representative democracy and market capitalism in the United States. They are very happy to hijack other people’s more-or-less legitimate social causes and twist them to their own uses. They are being aided in this effort by a fair number of cohorts, fellow travelers and guilt-ridden mostly White fools in the legislative bodies and court houses of this country. If they are successful the will control what you can say, and then what you can think, in the public arena. Then this control will move to the private arena. Do you want to be FORCED to chant a BLM mantra, and maybe pay a “tax”, to be able to drive pass a barricade manned by armed BLM supporters in order to drive down a public road? That is not a rhetorical question. There are people out there who WANT to destroy America and are very happy to do it if they can .
Ft. Sumter was attacked by Democrats because they could not accept a president that came from a party started by a black man in 1854. They wanted to overthrow the government to restore their power.
Democrats wholly own the attacks on federal property in their liberal cities. Their power is waning as their tactics are being exposed.
I’m not sure what “History” book you got that out of, but I’d ask for my money back. Ft. Sumpter was attacked by the forces of the Confederate States of America, after it became clear that the Union (of which Lincoln was President) had no intention of letting them secede. They had no desire to “overthrow” the Union government, they wanted their own country where they could continue to own slaves.
As for the Republican party being started by a black man – I could no evidence anywhere to support that claim.