The Conservative Lie.

From a friend of mine whom I respect, but who frequently follows the Fox news line of thinking rather than historical fact! came this comment.

"Mike, the Constitution does not grant rights. The founders believed (which I too believe) that certain rights come from a creator. They are basic human rights that are not provided by another human being.

The right to speak our minds

The right to defend ourselves

The right not to have another human being search us

etc etc

The Constitution PROTECTS those basic human rights...it doesn't grant them."

Wrong.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Let's be clear..."We the PEOPLE...establish...insure...provide...promote....secure..."

The Founders who had various beliefs knew, without doubt, that the PEOPLE ESTABLISH the rights. They knew, as they suffered under the "rights" of those other people, namely Kings and Lords, who too felt that they were granting God ordained rights upon the people.

Healthcare is no more nor less than any other right decided upon by a society, and right now more people want healthcare as a right than not. How that will come about is still debated, but it's clear for profit corporate healthcare is a failure, and yet too total government run healthcare (the VA) is a failure too. Hence why other nations have a leveled combination that is successful.

Oh, one more thing:

"...promote the general Welfare..."

With a big capital "W":

wel·fare [ wél fèr ]   

well-being: somebody's state or condition with respect to whether he or she is ***healthy***, safe, happy, or prospering