In my last post, I considered one factor contributing to mass violence—a form of domestic terrorism–in the United States. That factor is the corrupting of the U.S. Constitution by extremist right wing groups—often supported by and aligned with the National Rifle Association.
This post provides further examples of the distorted versions of Constitutional Amendments promoted by these groups, as well as examples of real Amendments they would like to nullify all together.
A) Here are DISTORTED versions of real amendments:
Amendment 7. Anyone can be incarcerated for any suspected crime and anyone can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law because the country is in a continuous state of public danger;
Amendment 8. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury unless such a trial could prove embarrassing to those in power or their supporters;
In addition to several of the first 10 Amendments (the Bill of Rights) to the Constitution, there are several other Amendments that right wing extremists would like to gut, and already often ignore.
B) Here are some REAL Constitutional amendments under attack from right wing extremists (see, for example):
Amendment 14. Citizenship cannot be denied on the basis of skin color and all citizens are guaranteed equal rights and equal protection under the law—even in the face of resistance by individual states and local communities.
Amendment 15. The right to vote cannot be denied on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Trying to destroy basic Constitutional protections because they do not promote your own interests, values, and prejudices is the opposite of true conservatism.
The right wing extremists, the neo-nazis, the white supremacists are not conservatives. They do not want to conserve or preserve the Constitution or democracy. They cloak their hateful agenda in distorted versions of Constitutional Amendments framed as justifications of personal freedom to dominate and terrorize.
As for Amendments designed to promote social justice and equality, the preference of those right wing extremists is to shoot them down, just like other obstacles.
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology