Congress of the United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on
Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.
THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.
ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.
Note: The following text is a transcription of the first ten amendments to the Constitution in their original form. These amendments were ratified December 15, 1791, and form what is known as the “Bill of Rights.”
Amendment I
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.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
..hey Yet, “pure fire,.. ?”, “It’s Sag., not Leo, check your scopes.”
..one wants beyond.. find your ground, stand it, and laugh your ass off!
..Other than that.. enjoy the rough times all..
..it’s beyond what we’re programmed,.. but only what we’ve opened to receive..
(Which is all basically bullshit but, fuck it,.. we’re bored..)
Jere
Thank you for the PSA, Eric — this is NOT information that can be processed in the head. It sprang from Heart long ago, the essential respect and concern for one another that keeps the Universe spinning. It was dropped, like a lifeboat, into a period when humankind would discover a way to remove itself permanently and needed a basic code of humanity to depend upon. That the founders were brilliant enough to adopt it as their own is the only excuse for exceptionalism this nation has or has needed.
The seat of intellect is within the brain — the seat of wisdom is in the heart. If we cannot FEEL this information in every cell of our body then we don’t know what it means. I keep prayers that our dharma will carry us forward without having to experience the absence of these basic rights in order to appreciate and truly FEEL them. They are the actual American Dream.
If we knew our connectedness with one another, and with all life around us, we wouldn’t have had to write these things down and insist upon them. THAT is the shift we’re working toward. We were never born to kill one another; we were born to love.
Oh yeti, thank you so much for this:
“Life on Earth is a web of relationships, not dead objects to be exploited. Until we grok that in our bodies, the Constitution is just a piece of paper.”
That is precisely the problem. So now we are in the crucible of alchemy of Dead Object/Living Sentient Sensory Self — breathe…….
And IMO one way to further that alchemy is exactly precisely to know with clarity and learn with greater clarity, what is lost, what is stolen, what is rightfully ours — and so much of THAT is spelled out in the Bill of Rights….. We have something to defend and to live into, with clarity.
Wandering Yeti writes: “we can’t get around the 800 lb gorilla in the room that is our rape and pilage of the biosphere, which is a collective expression of how we dam our emotional rivers, divide ourselves into compartments of isolated figments unable to cooperate or organize themselves to prevent incompetent leadership by psychopaths.”
Hear-hear.
Indeed. I am discovering though, in my current work situation, that many many well-meaning, relatively-intelligent people simply cannot process those facts from the frontal cortex. Other pathways have to be worked out . . .
M
Planeteers,
My sense is that Holder, et alia, are playing to an imaginary audience. Not wanting to “live down” to the soft-on-terror accusations of the surly neighbors across the Aisle, JA is the perfect way, place and time to Go Tough.
Write, call, send telegrams the the Congressional Judiciary Committee. Honestly, I get this gut feeling that they are up there on the stage softshoeing for all their worth :: Oh look how we twirl to the right, to the right, to the right. Invite them down off of the stage, remind them with humor, lovingkindness and a touch of fang that We the People love the truth, and killing the messenger is not in the Constitution, anywhere.
It starts in an hour. Hopping to the phone. . .
http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_101216.html
These are fine ideas, but in order to be solid in practice we can’t get around the 800 lb gorilla in the room that is our rape and pilage of the biosphere, which is a collective expression of how we dam our emotional rivers, divide ourselves into compartments of isolated figments unable to cooperate or organize themselves to prevent incompetent leadership by psychopaths. We jump at their abuse of art as advertising and terror manufacture and divide ourselves against one another. Men against women, men against brothers, sisters against sisters, adults against children, man against nature, pale against purple, verses verses verses drowning out the chorus. Too many hearts freaked out by the psychos with big machines and electric dream projectors. As long as it’s only an idea or only a law, thugs and psychopaths will find a way around it. As long as hateful hearts control the story, someone will find a reason why these laws don’t apply. “He’s a terrorist! Terrorists have no rights!” We have to sense through our bodies the interdependence we have with one another and with all other non human intelligences and structures of Earth for it to be more than words. Thomas Jefferson once said, “They will kill some of us, we shall destroy all of them” referring to the original people of Turtle Island. When you’re up against people like that, you can’t let your root get pulled by fear mongering. Break the damn dams in the rivers and in ourselves. From Coyote woman Caroline Casey I heard that what came to us as “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth” in a more accurate translation from the original Aramaic is more like ” Blessed are they who can soften emotional rigidity in their hearts for they shall have all the powers of Nature.” Emotional Plage cried Doctor Reich as we projected our own plague onto the image of the 3rd Reich. We dropped atomic bombs on civilians, but the Nazis are the evil ones. Yeah, right. That projected perception is a distraction designed to prevent our noticing the incredible violence at the heart of our culture. You can’t undo that violence by philosophy, legislation, constitutions, declarations, and bills. The only reason you need so called laws and rights is because we dam our rivers. The ones that kill the salmon, and the ones that keep our heads disconnected from our hearts, our guts, our genitals, our legs, feet, arms, hands. Full body orgasms for all! Once you’ve experienced one you’ll never go back. What I mean is Reich was right. What I mean is the way to keep humans from going psycho is to keep all the parts connected and as healthy as possible. Full body orgasms are part of an overall state that in martial arts is known as whole body power. In this state you’re less likely to lose your root and thus fall for dirty psycho tricks like FNORD false flag attacks FNORD. When they don’t get their way they blow shit up and blame it on the enemy du jour and then we’re too busy being afraid of each other to cooperate enough to throw the bastards out. Fuck I’m agitated these days. I’ve got Saturn on the Northern Solstice point so all this cardinal point activity is personally intense. It’s like- FUCK! We’re killing the biosphere! And then it’s breathe deep and let the action arise by itself. It’s not all Aries. The cardinals are on Gaia’s belly and there’s no one to notice the astrology like humans do without water, air and earth in the mix. Pure fire is for the sun. Life on Earth is a web of relationships, not dead objects to be exploited. Until we grok that in our bodies, the Constitution is just a piece of paper.
Catnip, do take heart. It may very well be that we are right now in the midst of the corrective cosmic moment for the erosion of those Rights. I am looking at it as a sort of collective “teachable moment” actually…….
This:
The House Judiciary Committee is convening tomorrow to consider how to prosecute Assange:
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/133199-justice-department-weighs-charges-against-wikileaks
“Lawmakers might be getting anxious to wrap up business before the holiday recess, but the House Judiciary panel is pulling the full committee together Thursday to delve into options to tackle the WikiLeaks scandal.
The Department of Justice and Attorney General Eric Holder are faced with difficult legal questions as they decide the best course of action to pursue against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange even as the Capitol Hill drumbeat to charge the WikiLeaks founder under the Espionage Act grows louder.
The Judiciary Committee will be looking at the World War I-era Espionage Act and the “legal and constitutional issues raised by WikiLeaks,” as directed by Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.).
It will be the first congressional hearing on WikiLeaks since the Nov. 28 publication of thousands of classified diplomatic cables, some of which have proven embarrassing to the U.S. government because of their frank tone. The witness list was not yet available.”
A small, paperback copy of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights was the first and only thing I ever bought at the U.S. government book store ($1, no tax!). I knew it was important, but it seemed so theoretical then (late 80s). It’s potential loss seems terrifyingly real now.
I know now that I can’t pretend to buy into the lie to keep some place, and peace, where I live. Everywhere I turn, I see people who have more who find it harder to not buy in, and that scares me.
But also, every day I’m thankful for all of you at Planetwaves for creating a place and force for positive evolution. xo
My buddy Steve is a hot civil rights lawyer. A seemingly boring wiseacre type of Capricorn with a Libra Moon (naturally). He went to a law school that focused on his specialty (City University of NY Law) got an early start trying federal cases because his old boss was a bit ADD so he got sent to the U.S. Court of Appeals as a very young guy. Before he was a lawyer we used to bitch about the state of the 4th Amendment and other basic rights. Then he started getting wins in the courts, one after the next. In those same years I sued New York State in federal court on 1st and 14th Amendment grounds and won. We stopped bitching.
The Constitution is a thing you have to claim as your own. You cannot exercise your rights if you don’t know you have them, or if you don’t understand them.
Therefore, be it resolved…
Thank you, Eric.
All: Read it and just try not to weep. At least you are still allowed to publish and read these words.