My wife got me this neat mug from the Unemployed Philosophers Guild web site. It has the Bill of Rights inscribed on the outside, the majority of which disappear when you fill the mug with a hot beverage. Most of the Lost Rights are attributable to the enactment of the Patriot Act. Hearing it described was entertaining and amusing, but watching it in action is a little scary.

It may be because I’m older or it may be because things really are slipping, but I’m more aware now of all things political than I have ever been. I’ve never really been a political person, but now that I’d like to be, I find I have no national party that I’m comfortable affiliating with. The Republican Right pushes for more control, wrapped up in the flag of God and Country, so you don’t dare criticize them. The Democrats are a namby-pamby bunch and have become the sorriest excuse for the Loyal Opposition I could imagine. Both sides now seem to have abandoned what is most important to me politically – fiscal accountability and social responsibility.

I’ve heard the terms DemoRep or RepubliCrat used to describe my peeps, but I think it’s gonna have to be something completely different, something new. From high school civics you probably remember that there have been other major parties throughout our history. Some parties just stopped being relevant and new ones grew to fill that void. We may need to keep our eye out for such a party or – gosh! – maybe talk with like minded people about what our Dream Team might look like.

What issues and ideals might a new political party adopt and espouse? One of the issues that are ripping through laws and conventions is the incredible growth of technology. Does the fact that GPS technology allows us to track an employee’s use of a company vehicle, detailing where the vehicle is and how long it has been there, give the company the right to do so? What about taxi cabs? You might give a tentative nod to the first, but do you want your whereabouts as a passenger tracked by a city commission? A new party could and should make privacy issues a plank in their platform, if not THE plank of the platform.

One of the Rights that disappears is the closest we’ve got to a Right to Personal Privacy, the Fourth Amendment. According to the Fourth, you have the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. Does a video camera in an apartment hallway violate the Fourth Amendment? How about an RFID dot on that purchase from Sam’s Club? Most of these debates focus on the benefits to business vs. the possible civil rights violations.

One of the most disturbing studies I’ve read recently involves our high school kids and what they think of the whole idea of rights; specifically their First Amendment rights. This is the Right that guarantees the government shall not make any laws that establish or prohibit a particular religion, guarantees your right to free speech, the freedom of the press, your right to assemble peaceably and complain to the government about what it’s doing that bothers you.

About a third of high school students polled think that the press has too much freedom and should get government approval before publishing their stories. Seventy-five percent think flag burning is illegal and the government has the right to censor the Internet. After having the First Amendment read and explained to them, 44% think it goes too far in what it protects.

Now I realize these are high school students and not the voting public, but they will be the voting public shortly. “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” couldn’t be a more appropriate warning. If we don’t insure that high schools have some kind of newspaper or media program, to give them the experience of the benefits of a free press, we could have a very interesting ride into old age when they take the wheel.

This is how s--t happens, both good and bad – in small increments. You don’t wake up one morning a free country without taking a lot of baby steps to get there. The same goes for losing your freedoms. There’s a long, steady erosion between the Land of the Free and It Can’t Happen Here, and that erosion starts with letting little things slip.

The ten articles of the Bill of Rights are here, and some good informational sites are here and here. Here’s a little quiz about the separation of church and state, what it is and what it isn’t, and why it’s important. While not as easy to digest as the latest Friends rerun, it’s what makes the telling of such stories possible. I’d say that’s worth a little effort on our part.

I could go on, but I’ve probably crossed that “glazed over” line by now, with all this talk that is not entertaining or amusing. That’s fine, and I’ll stop here. I would only say in conclusion that this is exactly how rights are lost – by not being engaged in the constant process of protecting them. If you rely on others to do this for you, you’ll soon discover that they’re more interested in what’s right for them, which may not be what you want for yourself.

That’s my Big Fat Opinion for this week. Do you have one of your own you’d like to express? Do so on our message board, or send me an email at mmtym@detroitbuzz.com.

In parting, please heed our Weekly Words of Wisdom:

“Those who would sacrifice liberty for a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

- Benjamin Franklin