The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was inserted into the Constitution over the objections of some of America’s Founders – such as James Madison – who believed it was unnecessary as the government they were creating could only exercise those powers specifically enumerated in that same Constitution. Alexander Hamilton also believed that a separate Bill of Rights was unneeded, believing that any attempt to list them would only serve to artificially limit them. In Federalist 84, Hamilton wrote: “The truth is, after all the declamations we have heard, that the Constitution is itself, in every rational sense, and to every useful purpose, A BILL OF RIGHTS.”
However, others, such as Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, demanded the inclusion of a specific Bill of Rights due to their unyielding suspicion and fear of centralized government power. Mason, the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, actually refused to vote for ratification of the Constitution unless that Bill of Rights was included. Mason and other anti-Federalists like Patrick Henry felt the Constitution itself was too weak in protecting the rights of the people and too soft on centralized power.
The inclusion of the Bill of Rights was certainly epochal in terms of government’s relationship with the governed. It precisely identified those rights retained by the people which government cannot infringe upon. Yet, nearly 250 years later, how has the Bill of Rights fared? Has it survived the passage of time or has it been effectively eviscerated by America’s corrupt and criminal ruling class, a ruling class guilty of far greater crimes than George III.
Let’s take a look:
The First Amendment was designed to protect the “free exercise” of religion, the freedom of speech, of the press, as well as the right of the people peaceably to assemble.
Yet, in 2022 America, it is forbidden to say a prayer or carry a Bible in a public school. Graduation prayers are banned and any appeal to the Almighty will land you in litigation. And, just two years ago, state governors actually ordered the closure of churches, supposedly to fight a Chinese virus! How’s that for “free exercise” of religion?
With regard to freedom of speech and the press, political ideas are now routinely censored and political opponents of the ruling Regime persecuted and terrorized. The press has merged with the state and is little more than a propaganda organ of the Regime. As far as peaceably assembling, why is Reichminister of “Justice” Merrick Garland sending FBI agents to prevent parents from speaking out at school board meetings?
The Second Amendment was designed to protect the people from their government by acknowledging the inherent right to keep and bear arms.
In 2022 America, the Regime seeks to ban entire categories of arms, restrict the ability to purchase arms for self-protection, or subject gun manufacturers to such onerous regulations as to bankrupt them.
The Fourth Amendment seeks to protect the people from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Yet, in 2022 America, the police state apparatus of the Regime, be it the IRS, FBI, DHS or ATF – as well as the regulatory monoliths like the EPA and OSHA—regularly and routinely invade people’s homes and businesses, unannounced and usually on the flimsiest of grounds. George W. Bush’s Patriot Act of 2001 legalized government spying on Americans on an unprecedented scale, without even a court order. Even a President of the United States is not immune to the rampant violations of the Fourth Amendment, as Donald Trump can confirm.
The Fifth Amendment’s purpose was intended to protect the people against self-incrimination and prevent government from taking someone’s “life, liberty, or property” without “due process of law.” It was also written to prevent the taking of private property for public use without just compensation.
In 2022 America, no person who has been targeted by the IRS can argue that he has been protected from being a witness against himself. No business owner who has been targeted by the EPA can argue that this Amendment has protected him from having his property taken without “due process of law.” And, in 2005’s Kelo decision, the “public use” clause of the Amendment was essentially nullified by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Sixth Amendment assures the accused of the “right to a speedy and public trial,” to be confronted with witnesses against him, have the assistance of counsel, and be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.
How has that worked out for the dozens of innocent patriots rotting in D.C. jails for being at the Capitol on January 6th? Aren’t they accused to this day of no specific crime, denied the right to an attorney, and denied the right to a speedy trial?
The Eighth Amendment provides protection against excessive bail and excessive fines, as well as cruel and unusual punishments.
Yet, how many private businesses have been bankrupted over the years by the tax and regulatory behemoths of the administrative state, especially the EPA? How many individuals have lost their life savings and homes in order to settle accounts with the Infernal Revenue Service, soon to receive 87,000 new enforcement agents from the Regime?
And, of course, there’s the Tenth Amendment. This one is worth quoting in its entirety: “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.”
The Tenth Amendment has been entirely obliterated at least since the time of the New Deal in the 1930s and probably before. The states are no longer sovereign entities, but administrative units of the central government. Supreme Court decisions dating back to FDR have essentially negated the Tenth Amendment by permitting the federal government to engage in any action that is not specifically prohibited by the Constitution. Were the Tenth Amendment still in force, the size and cost of the federal government would be about one-tenth of what it actually is, as programs relating to health care, welfare, education, agriculture and the like would be handled at the local level with Washington restricted to issuing money, delivering the mail, fighting wars, and conducting foreign policy.
Sadly, the Bill of Rights has not fared well over the last two centuries. Most of its amendments have been or are being routinely violated, often egregiously. Some, like the Tenth, are all but non-functioning. Much of this has to be blamed on the federal judiciary which we should have expected to safeguard our nation’s governing charter. Instead, it has allowed the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to be ripped to shreds by a globalist and elite ruling class which has dominated American politics since at least the rise of Woodrow Wilson, the Progressives, and the Council on Foreign Relations. This ruling class, also called the Regime, bows its head not to the God of the Old and New Testaments, but to the pagan idols of the New World Order.
EDITOR’s NOTE: How well do you know the Constitution? It’s hard to retain something if you are ignorant of what it says.
Dr. James Veltmeyer is a family physician in La Jolla, California, and author of “Physician on a Mission: Dr. Veltmeyer’s RX to Save America.” He was voted “Top Doctor” in San Diego County in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019.
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