text: Written by Coragyrph:\n\nEvery time one of our civil liberties is taken by the government, we are hurt. As a nation, and as a free people. Our own govt is trampling on the fabric of the Constitution, and the core values that this country was founded upon.\n\nPeople ask what rights I personally have lost. The right to counsel. The right to due process. The right to privacy. The right to assemble. Habeas corpus. Unreasonable searches. Warrantless wiretapping. The list of rights and civil liberties that have been trampled on by the Bush regime grows longer every year.\n\nEvery one of those rights stipped away was mine. Just because I never needed to invoke them didn't make them less mine. And just because you haven't needed them yet doesn't make them less yours.\n\nWe only have those rights we choose to defend. Only those rights we can defend. And if we do not defend them, we lose them. Not just for those who need them now -- but for all of us.\n\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n\nIn honor of Pastor Martin Niemöller:\n\nFirst they came for the 6th Amendment, but I hadn't been accused of a crime, so I didn't object to denial of counsel.\n\nThen they came for the 4th Amendment, but I wasn't talking to anyone overseas, so they wouldn't be monitoring me.\n\nThen they came for the rest of the 4th Amendment, but I only called my mother, so there was nothing suspicious in my phone records.\n\nThen they came for the 1st Amendment, but I never associated with criminals, so I didn't worry about being convicted purely based on what other people might do.\n\nThen they came for the 14th Amendment, but I never really understood the rules for Due Process (and wasn't allowed an attorney), so I didn't object.\n\nThen they came for the rest of the 1st Amendment, but I never told anyone about what the government was doing, so again I remained silent.\n\nThen they came for the 5th Amendment, ...... and I no longer had the right to remain silent. \n\nWritten by Coragyrph: