This will have to be just the start of
a series, because this story gets more absurd with each passing day. The
Democrats hate democracy--true democracy--and seem determined to chip away at
free speech.
There is a current push underway in
Congress for the so-called “People’s Rights Amendment” (PRA) which would define
persons protected under the Constitution to be “natural persons” and not
“corporations, limited liability companies or other corporate entities.”
Missing from the language of the proposed bill is reference to unions, NGOs or
other associations, and it is unclear that the term “other corporate entities”
would include them. It is also ironic that these Leftists don’t regard human
fetuses as “natural persons,” until the double litmus test of (a) live birth
and (b) the child’s being wanted by the mother has been met.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim
McGovern (D-of course), from Massachusetts (sadly enough), has already been
endorsed by minority leader Nancy Pelosi. Section 1 states: “We the people who
ordain and establish this Constitution intend the rights protected by this
Constitution to be the rights of natural persons.” Natural persons goes
undefined. But Section 2 states, “The words people, person, or citizen as used
in this Constitution do not include corporations, limited liability companies
or other corporate entities established by the laws of any State, the United
States or any foreign state..."
What comes next is revealing of the
true motives of this Bill's sponsors: Socialism. Freedom of Speech is a target
but so is the right to free enterprise. Look at what the actual text of the
bill states.
“...and such corporate entities are subject to such regulation as the people, through their elected State and Federal representatives, deem reasonable and are otherwise consistent with the powers of Congress and the States under this Constitution.”
Denying associations of citizens from exercising the freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution is tantamount to denying the individual their rights to free association, and could involve the denial of freedom of speech and press, as well as denial of religious liberty. The structure of many if not most Church organizations is that of a corporation. Were the PRA to become law, it could involve an explicit denial of liberty to the Church. This would be a radical departure from the traditional interpretation of the applicability of the Bill of Rights to not just citizens acting alone, but citizens united as a body (the etymology of the words corporate and corporation refer to this--L. corporare=to form into a body, and corpus=body.)
To be continued...
