The acts of protesting and picketing have been around for a very long time and for purposes of this blog entry, I’ll only discuss a few, if not just the more well known protests that have occurred in this country over the past 100 years or so. The right to protest, exercise free speech and enjoy freedom of the press was ratified in 1791 in probably the most famous of all Constitutional Amendments…the First Amendment. It states that:

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.

As examples, the suffrage movement for women’s rights began in the mid to late 1800’s with woman marching and picketing in Washington DC in 1917 (with 218 women from 26 different states being arrested for doing so) with the right to vote finally coming to fruition for women in 1920.

The nationwide alcohol prohibition law lasted from 1920 until 1933 when the 18^th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1919 and Prohibition began. During those 13 years, protests and picketing took place all over the country by thousands of people in support of the right to buy, consume, possess, sell and manufacture alcohol. Then in 1933, the 21^st Amendment to the Constitution was passed and repealed the 18^th Amendment. It was and still is big part of the “colorful” history of the United States.

The time periods during World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War all saw their shares of peaceful (and sometimes not so peaceful) protests and picketing all over our country. Many workplaces, schools, colleges, universities, towns and cities all participated in protests in one form or the other, and these again, are ingrained as part of the past of the United States.

Powerful protests and marches such as those in Selma, Alabama in 1965 were organized and arranged to ensure that African Americans could continue to exercise their constitutional right to vote. This was done in a deeply divided south and sent a formidable message to those in power at the time when even a known segregationist system couldn’t stop the right of African Americans to execute their lawful right to vote.

I staunchly believe in our Constitutional 1^st Amendment and all its contents and concepts. Always have, always will. The issue I believe, with protesters of this day and age is such that they very often want to subvert the 1^st Amendment and weaken it by attempting to label some free speech as “hate speech”. Therefore, in essence, stating that you, or I, don’t have the right to say anything we’d like as that speech may offend someone. Now, I understand that when it comes to threatening, intimidating or harassing language or actions, or even violence is where the line must be drawn, as this activity is egregious and illegal and should remain so. But, just by saying something that someone doesn’t like or is offended by, being construed as “illegal”, is where the topic gets muddied…and dangerous. And, unfortunately, it’s getting attention from lawmakers and certain politicians in power who certainly don’t want to lose their own power by pissing off their respective constituency. Some would rather change the very fabric of our society and the freedoms and rights we hold near and dear than lose their ivory tower status and positions.

Currently, the anti-Semitic protests occurring in and around our country that have polarized and divided our nation wherein the hate speech being spewed is just that, they have every right to do so. It doesn’t make it morally, ethically or even civilly right, but, as I’ve said, they have that constitutionally guaranteed right. However, the caveat here is several fold…one is that there is a marked increase in violence by the protesters. Unlawful assembly, the destruction of property, aggravated assaults, rioting, harassment, looting, vandalism, blocking roadways and personal intimidations are just a few of the crimes being committed by these so called “protesters”. Second, is that there is an insidious influence within the ranks of these protesters that they are organized. And, organized not in a good way. There is conclusive evidence that there are and have been professional “protest organizers and influencers” imbedded within their ranks and they have staunch financial backing and support. Many police statements I have read have indicated that some of those protesters arrested are from areas and even states nowhere near the actual protest sites and that they’ve been involved in these activities before. Their personal backgrounds within the scope of their presence there, to me, reflect a dark underbelly of subversion and the attempt to undermine and destabilize those Constitutional rights that we’ve enjoyed for centuries.

While I have my personal thoughts regarding the origins of this money, and they are just that, my own thoughts…they have however been substantiated by research done on the subject. But, for now, I’ll leave it at that.

Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, I do personally believe however that there is a clandestine movement occurring that is attempting to erode and weaken our constitutional rights. Enter stage left, the subject of George Orwell’s book “1984”.

I pray that I’m wrong in some of my opinions and assumptions, but honestly, I don’t think I am. I’ve lived a long life and have seen many things, good and bad. But not to change the topic of this blog piece mid-stream, I also believe our government is way too big and has way too much power, no matter what party is in charge. And, my opinions about these protests and our government, in my estimation, seem to reflect an insidious correlation connected by a very imperceptible, yet thinly veiled, multi-level dotted line. Political donors are a very savvy bunch folks.

I’ve mentioned in prior writings regarding my thoughts about politics that “all politicians rule for their own benefit”. I still believe that, and I also believe the adage “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The nineteenth-century English historian Lord Acton knew and believed this and wrote it in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton back in the late 1800’s regarding the abuses of power by those “in” power at the time. I believe he knew exactly what he was talking about…even 150 years ago.

Everything is not well at City Hall.

I personally hold our Constitutional rights extremely close to my heart. I raised my right hand 50 years ago and swore a military oath to uphold and fight to the death to defend them and our country.

While I probably won’t be around to witness the possible degradation and collapse of our beloved Constitutional rights, I have a creeping foreboding about it, and in this country’s future.

To again mention George Orwell, and I think he had it right when he said, “Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship”.

There is much work to be done to ensure this does not happen. But, until God brings me home, I will be watching it with a hopeful, yet jaundiced eye.