"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."

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is a remarkable paragraph. It has managed to survive for the last 200 + years despite organized opposition to freedom and liberty by various groupings of people, parties, ideas and ideologies which have marched through our little bit of history.

In some ways, this amendment is narrowly defined. We will bend over backwards to avoid the establishment of religion even if it means trampling all over "the free exercise thereof." We will praise the freedom of the press, but we are entering an age where speech itself is under fire by those enemies of liberty who believe that people have a right to be free of insult. The old adage that "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it," has vanished into the abyss of political correctness. A recent poll had 39% of the people saying that the 1st Amendment went too far in protecting rights. I hadn't realized that so many people had been rendered ignorant in this country.

The last right enumerated in the First Amendment is the right of protest. To "peaceably assemble" and petition the government. Lately this right has been abused. I have read this amendment many times and have even provided it here for you to read for yourself and I can't find anything in this amendment that confers the right to break store windows and cart off merchandise. Yet the Press continues to label those who break windows, burn cars, and steal stuff as protesters. I believe that such activity is more accurately defined as criminal vandalism and theft. I fail to see how stealing television and stereo equipment from shops can be construed as a valid form of protest against the policies of the government. The government doesn't own the stores or the merchandise being pilfered by the thieves and vandals. That is private property which is paid for in the private sector by someone's hard work.

Back when I was a liberal tool (before growing a brain), I remember participating in some protests. It was the early 70s, and we carried signs, shouted shallow slogans, and marched down the street. It never occurred to us to change the protest into a vehicle for stealing appliances. If you are protesting an action that you believe to be immoral, it is hardly appropriate for you to behave in an immoral way while you try and make your point. I fail to see the difference between the G8 "protesters" and the celebrants of the last winner of the NCAA final 4. Both events, the meeting of the World Trade Leaders and winning the basketball championship gave a lot of lowlifes an excuse to break windows and steal. I also fail to see the difference between these protesters and common hoodlums or thieves. The only real difference is that the hoodlums and thieves are much more honest. They know they are thieves. They don't delude themselves into believing they are "activists" or champions of the great unwashed.