“...if you can not state your case, no other act or amendment can exist.”

I respectfully disagree. If you cannot DEFEND free speech--or any basic human right--then none of them matter. They are merely words on paper. The entire 20th Century stands as a monument to the fact that you simply cannot defend words with words. Eventually someone from the far left or the far right will try to silence you. If they have weapons and you do not then they WILL succeed. The reason that hasn’t happened in America is because of the armed citizenry.

Bounty, you know that I disagree with you profoundly in regards to the forces at work in our society. You are convinced that there are conspiratorial forces at work behind the scenes which are pulling the strings while I believe that what appears to be conspiratorial forces is in fact just bureaucratic inertia at work. (If I have misstated your stance I apologize; please feel free to clarify your position.) What is important is that we are both free to try--however futile it may be--to convince each other of the rightness of our position. I have heard that the First Amendment is under attack by the Patriot Act. If that’s the case how is it that we sit here and debate so freely?

I promise you that if I see the First Amendment being eroded, I will be right there defending it with you.

As a side note, the ban on Self-Loading weapons is about to expire. I urge everyone to run out right now and buy a Homeland Defense Rifle. Go wage war on the empty beer cans and paper plates that infest our wide open spaces. Pick up after yourself, or others. Most of all have fun!

Regards, Vince