The First Amendment
“You’ve got a situation where sometimes there’s no good guys,”
This is a quote of a quote which appeared in an article in today’s edition of the New York Times. It concerned the ludicrous teasing of the US Constitution by a raving nutter who got the authorities so annoyed with him by the content of his bloggs that in the end the Judge who dealt with him last just jailed him for contempt by breaching the first amendment, freedom of speech, when he could not possibly have done so as he did not recognise the authority of the court and said nothing.
It’s a great story because it shows two things. If the first amendment can be unconstitutionally cited, which it was here to the accused’s detriment, then all amendments which have been made since that one in 1778 have no validity in US law because constitutional law is, like ours in Britain, a hierarchical system of precedents where all those following any which is shown to be de facto capable of misapplication without redress, which this case is, are of themselves not binding in federal or constitutional law.
Now note something. I have cited no names for my assertions or description of events in this case. But the first amendment protects my right to be a fool if I so wish. But it only covers a citizen of the thirteen states which existed when this amendment was passed. So if it is capable of being illegally applied, then no laws covering any part of the current US which was not part of that country in 1778 are legally binding. Ergo, following this insane piece of reasoning it follows that criminals in most of the United States cannot even exist as there are no enforceable laws which they could have broken.
You think this is rubbish? Well of course it is, but think of that poor guy in prison for life for saying nothing any more rationally threatening to the US than my few words here are. No! I am not going to say where all this comes from. If you can’t find it then something really is terribly wrong with the US first amendment and all those amendments that follow it. I just hope I never need the fifth.
Anton's Ideas 