i knew that bucko and some of the other whack jobs here wouldn't get it, they never do, but i'd hoped for a bit more sense from most of the other members of the board. the simple fact is that each right taken from the individual makes it easier to take the next one.... and the next one.... and the next one....
while the right to our property and, of course, the right to live our lives unmolested may be the basis upon which all our rights are built, this makes them no more "important" than any others. what so many of you seem to fail to grasp is that the rights of the individual are unlimited, as long as they do not interfere with the rights of other individuals. since the founding of this country, those rights have been chipped away by grasping power brokers and the whims of the greedy mob. they were first limited by the vagaries of puritan ethics, then by the desires of industrialists and by other forces. at each step the curtailing of various rights were shepherded by the corruption inherent in the political system. each time a bit more power was handed over to those who supposedly serve the people. these days our "fringe" rights are endangered by the latest interpretation of the term "fairness" or by the illusions of safety and security, but it is, as usual, those in political power who stand to gain the most by limiting the freedoms of the individual. considering them as less important rights serves only to make their loss seem of little consequence, but anyone who values their liberty sees through such foolishness.
no, there is no such thing as an unimportant right. each is precious, valueless only to those who do not value their liberty. by allowing legislation based on least common denominators and worst case scenarios we are fast creating a society of rampant mediocrity, where excellence is punished, law abiding citizens are penalized for their honesty and corruption is the only way to succeed.