--- Dan Minette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Baardwijk, J. van DTO/SLBD/BGM/SVM/SGM"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2001 4:24 AM
> Subject: RE: R&D Re: Europe, the US, and
> Environmentalism
>
> > Democracy isn't perfect, but it's the best we can
> do.
> >
>
> What is wrong with having a set of rights of
> citizens which require
> significantly more than a simple majority to repeal?
> An example of this is
> the right to free speach. From time to time in the
> US, people want to
> prohibit certain types of very unpopular speach.
> They can get a majority to
> go along. But, they cannot get enough to rewrite
> the constitution. The
> most recent example is the constitutional protection
> for expressing contempt
> for the United States by burning an American flag.
>
They can't even get enough to bury the Evil Second.
Something that's been bothering me lately is how you
can be immediately detained in an airport for saying a
single word in jest. You can see it on the faces of
your fellow Americans when you'e going through the
x-ray/magnetic detector - 'all i have to do is say
*bomb* and i'll get arrested' - they're stunned. In a
way it's heartening for me, it makes people think
about how good they have it- because for those brief
moments they're being oppressed. The Secret Service
has much more sweeping powers. How is it that we've
let these bypass the 1st and 4th? And no, it's not
like yelling 'fire'- you're not harming anyone.
dean
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger
http://phonecard.yahoo.com/
