Tomorrow is perhaps the most important of the holidays around the world, yet few celebrate, much less even know it is a declared holiday.  December 15 is Bill of Rights day.  A remembrance of the first Ten Amendments to the United States Constitution. 

When President Bush refers to the Constitution as, "Just a God-damned piece of paper," he is really referring to the Bill of Rights.  After all, any pretense that the U.S. Constitution in any way restricts the powers of the federal government have long since been put to rest.  But the average U.S. citizen still fantasizes that they have Rights that supersede their governments' demands, and remain inviolate.

It is a nice dream.  And it ought to be celebrated.

Two and a half centuries ago, a minority of malcontents -- terrorists really -- harassed, murdered and destroyed the lawfully constituted government, its agents and its property.  In the end, the government abandoned its governance and its claims to the terrorists. 

Those terrorists were fighting for themselves, their families and their future.  It was an individualist dream.  Regrettably, others who remained not trusting their neighbor (best case scenario) or who wanted to rule their neighbor (worst case) decided to form a central government to rule them all.

Unfortunately for the ruling class, the majority of Americans grown used to thirteen years without a central government smelled a rat when it came to their newly writ Constitution. Consequently, the document failed to garner enough colonial government's support to bring the Constitution into force by the provisions of the document itself.  A compromise was hastily worked out to address the concerns of the populace that the Constitution was nothing more than the creation of a central power that would eventually grow to again disfranchise them all.  The compromise was eventually to become the first Ten Amendments to the new Constitution: Our Bill of Rights.

While the Constitution was clear that the newly created federal government was restricted to only 18 powers and had no other duties or powers, the Bill of Rights further clarified that the legislative aspect of the federal government, Congress, was prohibited in ALL ways from enacting regulations or prohibitions on occupants of the newly formed nation's religion, speech, writing and publishing, gathering, filing grievance or claim on the federal government, owning and carrying of weapons, being searched by government agents or forced quartering of them, being tortured  or held incommunicado by the government, without charge, without being allowed to contact representation, not suffering arrest without being brought before a judge, without government depriving one's life, liberty or property, or being compelled to testify against ones self, and if an individual is to be charged with a crime they shall be charged by a jury, they shall receive a speedy trial and by tried by a jury of their peers, and they cannot be tried on the same charges more than once.

Yes, now that the Bill of Rights is as effectively dead as the promises of the Constitution we should raise our glasses in memory to our human rights bestowed on us not by government, but by the mere fact of having been born into this world.  Human Rights, not American rights.  Rights that cannot be taken away.  Rights that can only be terrorized out of reach by the point of a government gun.  Here is to the New World Order.  Here is to a strong central government.  Here is to indenturhood, serfdom, servitude, oppression, tyranny and slavery.  While you are being consumed please  pause a moment to celebrate Bill of Rights Day on December 15. 

And on your way to Christmas don't forget December 16 when terrorists disguised as Aboriginal Americans in a wanton act of defiance and destruction destroyed the government's property over a tiny tax.  Ah, now those were the days.  Alright, permission to go back to sleep is permitted and therefor mandated.  Goodnight.