Rights We Treasure, And Rights We Don’t
I don’t consider myself a right-wing blogger, tea partier, neo-conservative, federalist or a birther. I’m just a married man with a .5 kid (my wife is 8 months pregnant). I stay “in the know: because of my job and many folks often call me for advice on election day. They know that I don’t look at the party and will always breakdown candidates’ pros and cons with reason. I’ve never been a big Bill of Rights guy, although I’ve been trying to plow through a very thick biography piece on John Adams for the last year.
But this past weekend, as my wife and I strolled through a brand new public school in Baton Rouge on our way to vote, I was presented with a sign— not from God, but a sign from a teacher. A sign that I needed to take a closer look at my rights as a U.S. citizen.
The sign wasn’t all that noticeable. It blended well between inspirational posters and proudly displayed class projects. I imagine it was a simple assignment for Mrs. Menon’s students at ‘The Dufrocq School.’ Perhaps it was even an impromptu project to keep them busy on a rainy afternoon? It was entitled “We Treasure Our Rights.” I thought to myself what a great way to ‘teach’ our children the rights of our country. The rights our forefathers drafted and debated over for years. The rights my grandfather died for in Italy during WWII. The rights we believe in— the fundamental rights of life, liberty and the purist of happiness, which give us all the opportunity to be the best we can be in this great county.
But sadly I was disturbed by the rights that were listed on this flimsy poster board. Especially the one that topped the list – ‘I treasure the right to Health Care.’
I’m glad this sign came into my life because it made me dig a little deeper into my rights. All of these years I’ve had a general idea of my rights. I’ve heard debates over what is a ‘right’ and what is a ‘privilege.’ Amazingly, when I went to the current “trusted” source for information, Google, and typed in “rights,” I got 1.6 billion results in .26 seconds. Unfortunately on the top of this list was “Ask a Lawyer – 19 lawyers are online! Ask a question. Get an answer ASAP.” In fact, the top six results are all related to my rights if I’m arrested. I’ve put that in “My Favorites” folder (you never know).
Of course, the ultimate source for our information about our rights is the United States Constitution. It is often assumed the Bill of Rights is the document under which we live our daily lives, but in 1791 the Bill of Rights only served as an outline for the first ten amendments to the Constitution. As hard as I tried, I could not find where Health Care was listed in either the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. I did see the right to keep and bear arms, right to a trial by jury, right to not house soldiers without an owner’s consent, right to not incriminate myself, right to protection from unreasonable searches and the right to freedom of speech. But nothing about Health Care.
Last year my wife visited Durfocq Elementary to help with a reading program for the students. She was amazed at the design of the school ($20 million renovation) and how well behaved all of the students were in the school. So what are Dufrocq teachers teaching in school? Was this an assignment for educational purposes or indoctrination purposes?
I guess brand new schools do not invoke brand new thought processes.
According the Dufrocq’s website, Mrs. Menon is a certified elementary teacher with a master’s degree. I would expect a teacher with a master’s degree would know the difference between a “right” and a “privilege.”
I’m sure when folks invoke the first amendment and ask Mrs. Menon why she’s indoctrinating our kids, she’ll quickly exercise her Fifth Amendment right!
Reference:
Mrs. Shobha Menon
[...] via Rights We Treasure, And Rights We Don’t | The Hayride. [...]
Is this for REAL??? We have got to get a grip on our teachers!!
Is this for REAL??? We have got to get a grip on our teachers!!
Reason number 32,645 why you should send your children to private or parochial schools.
Reason number 32,645 why you should send your children to private or parochial schools.
This is outrageous. Teachers should remain politically neutral. Ms. Menon needs to read the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights — if she can read. And the principal — if he or she has any courage — needs to invite an outside spokesperson to explain to the students what individual liberties are all about.
This is outrageous. Teachers should remain politically neutral. Ms. Menon needs to read the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights — if she can read. And the principal — if he or she has any courage — needs to invite an outside spokesperson to explain to the students what individual liberties are all about.
This was a big issue with the (failed, reborn as Lisbon treaty) EU Constitution. It enshrined "rights" such as decent education and employment which depended entirely on somebody else paying for it, i.e. one person's rights are dependent on depriving somebody else of their coin. As one commentator said, these are issues which should be argued about at election time, not ring-fenced in a constitution.
Personally, I'm more a fan of the natural rights, starting with the right to be left alone.
This was a big issue with the (failed, reborn as Lisbon treaty) EU Constitution. It enshrined "rights" such as decent education and employment which depended entirely on somebody else paying for it, i.e. one person's rights are dependent on depriving somebody else of their coin. As one commentator said, these are issues which should be argued about at election time, not ring-fenced in a constitution.
Personally, I'm more a fan of the natural rights, starting with the right to be left alone.
Healthy people and dead people are not worth anything to the for profit health care system.Therefore it would stand to reason that profits depend on sick people. When profits trump humanitarian issues ,profits win every time. Hence the FDA(food and drug administration) "Foods that cause us to get sick and need drugs is a win,win situation."Not to mention everything we eat,drink, and breath is killing us in some form or another. The problem is that all those that are directly or indirectly invested into the for profit healthcare system are going to protect that system ,it matters not if people are getting sick and dying from the system they protect.No more than those that are invested into the Military Industrial Complex are against War and the killing of innocent people,profits trump sympathy.There's single payer healthcare like the rest of the world or for profit,there's no happy median it would seem.Meanwhile innocent people are getting sick and dying, after all they're only cannon fodder for the elites and their profits.Sure if you made that ultimate "sacrifice" and went to Med school that knowledge is you property, while at the same time when we learn the cause of a disease,inadvertently we also learn how to induce the cause of disease.
Healthy people and dead people are not worth anything to the for profit health care system.Therefore it would stand to reason that profits depend on sick people. When profits trump humanitarian issues ,profits win every time. Hence the FDA(food and drug administration) "Foods that cause us to get sick and need drugs is a win,win situation."Not to mention everything we eat,drink, and breath is killing us in some form or another. The problem is that all those that are directly or indirectly invested into the for profit healthcare system are going to protect that system ,it matters not if people are getting sick and dying from the system they protect.No more than those that are invested into the Military Industrial Complex are against War and the killing of innocent people,profits trump sympathy.There's single payer healthcare like the rest of the world or for profit,there's no happy median it would seem.Meanwhile innocent people are getting sick and dying, after all they're only cannon fodder for the elites and their profits.Sure if you made that ultimate "sacrifice" and went to Med school that knowledge is you property, while at the same time when we learn the cause of a disease,inadvertently we also learn how to induce the cause of disease.
I'd enjoy an interview, comment or explanation from Mrs Menon.
I'd enjoy an interview, comment or explanation from Mrs Menon.
Obviously your school district, like many others in Louisiana, California, the southeast and in increasing other areas of the country considered US citizen teachers not left wing enough and have been replacing citizen teachers with those brought here through the exploitation of our visa program. Parents need to raise a ruckus about this, because these teachers are part of a stepped up, continued plan to dumb down our children and indoctrinate them.
Obviously your school district, like many others in Louisiana, California, the southeast and in increasing other areas of the country considered US citizen teachers not left wing enough and have been replacing citizen teachers with those brought here through the exploitation of our visa program. Parents need to raise a ruckus about this, because these teachers are part of a stepped up, continued plan to dumb down our children and indoctrinate them.
Your rights come from God. If you must depend on someone else for your rights, they are not rights, they can be withdrawn at a whim. Suppose the government healthcare expert just withdraws care for you and you die … what then.
But and it's a big but, with rights comes responsibilities. For without those responsibilities, you have no rights. Rights and responsibilities are inseparable. You surrender your responsibilities, you have no rights.
You are right about the teacher though.
Your rights come from God. If you must depend on someone else for your rights, they are not rights, they can be withdrawn at a whim. Suppose the government healthcare expert just withdraws care for you and you die … what then.
But and it's a big but, with rights comes responsibilities. For without those responsibilities, you have no rights. Rights and responsibilities are inseparable. You surrender your responsibilities, you have no rights.
You are right about the teacher though.
I think you should slow down condemning the teacher. She didn't come up with those"Rights", the children did. One hopes that their parents saw the list so they can better help the teacher educate the children.
I think you should slow down condemning the teacher. She didn't come up with those"Rights", the children did. One hopes that their parents saw the list so they can better help the teacher educate the children.
You can look and tell she's not American. She apparently is like all the other "feriners" our congress allows to come here and live off of us. She doesn't know a right from a left. Gimmee!gimmee!gimmee! while I destroy your country you dumb American bigot! Welcome to the third world!
You can look and tell she's not American. She apparently is like all the other "feriners" our congress allows to come here and live off of us. She doesn't know a right from a left. Gimmee!gimmee!gimmee! while I destroy your country you dumb American bigot! Welcome to the third world!
This would have never happened when I attended Dufrocq. My Dad would have seen to that.
This would have never happened when I attended Dufrocq. My Dad would have seen to that.