Posted on 07/23/2002 9:26:02 AM PDT by TightSqueeze
What if I offered my opinion of his mother?
(steely)
Sorry, old chap. You have the right not to be compelled to testify against yourself, but you have no right whatsoever to remain silent when Big Brother detains you and issues you a survey. You can be compelled to answer it. (Just ask any jackbooted thug handing out the number 2 pencils.) But don't worry - it's for the children.
Where do you get that idea from?
Driving is a privilege, as they say, but walking on the public road is also a privilege.
Says who? Driving and walking on public land are both rights, that cannot be infringed.
The government can order you off the street at any time because they own it and you don't.
Not they cannot. They don't own it, so how can they act like they do?
That's collective ownership as represented by the government, the governor in particular. The private individual has no ownership rights at all.
Per question.
No rights there at all. Rights implies ownership, and ownership means you can sell it. But you can't sell any part of the public land because you don't own it.
Niether does the state or the governor. Citizens may use the public right-of-ways at any time, without state harassment.
The government is the public and owns the land. The governor, while in office, is the representative of the public, the government. Observe that they can sell any piece of it that they want to and transfer ownership to a private citizen. The ability to sell land is the primary qualification of ownership. The private citizen cannot sell any piece of public land any more than he can sell the Brooklyn Bridge.
You are purposely confusing private property, that held by individuals, and public property, that owned by all individuals, and administered to by the state.
The state doesn't own public areas. It is hired to upkeep it, and protect it. The state is our paid steward, a groundskeeper. That's it. The People own public land. We enjoy our rights on public land because we are free Americans, and we are in America.
When I walk down the street, I have 4th Amendment rights against search and seizure.
I can stand on a soapbox and exercise my freedom of speech.
Your view is much closer to that held by Monarchies. The King owns the land. You are but a surf, a mere peon the King has permitted of his infinite kindness to tread on His land. You will do exactly as the King says on His land, and when He divinely commands you to get your wretched hooves of His land, you WILL do so, or the King's men will imprison or kill you.
It is exactly this type of attitude that led the colonials to revolt.
That's what I said. Once you are off your own private property you have the enumerated rights, civil, and human rights. I have been hoping to draw some lawyer types into this discussion because it needs to be aired out.
We have snowmachiners wanting to drive in the national park and the park service is denying them the privilege. How can they do that? There is a curfew here and there, how can they do that? There is eminent domain, how can they do that? The police can stop you in your car, how can they do that? You can be assessed property tax, how can they do that?
Maybe some lawyer types can add some of that good, old law Latin to this discussion. Terms like posse comitatus in the present debate about allowing the US military to participate in domestic law enforcement.
Ding-Ding-Ding We have a winner!
You have given me a good idea, I have one of those magic 8-balls, I will put it in the car just in case I get pulled over for my opinion.
In response to your assertion that we only enjoy enumerated rights, I posted to you the 9th Amendment, which in plain terms states the exact opposite. What of that?
Answer me that, and I'll consider the rest of your questions.
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