No, I Will NOT Thank the Troops For That!

I realize there are many disturbing things about Sarah Palin, and that this one is not the most disturbing, but I've heard it enough times now that I must remark on it -- especially since I haven't heard or read anybody else saying it. She's got this habit of saying to hecklers things like, “I hope those protesters have the courage and honor to give veterans thanks for their right to protest.”

This kind of nonsense betrays an egregious misunderstanding of what the United States of America is about. You'd think that members of the party who like to tout themselves as the most patriotic bunch since the Third Reich would know a thing or two about the principles that informed the foundation of our government.

What was truly radical about the Declaration of Independence (and the US Constitution that was informed by it) was the concept that people have certain rights by the sole virtue of being alive. We're talking about Human Rights -- rights that we believe, as civilized people, every single human has, whether those rights are respected and acknowledged by other governments or not. That was a mind-blowing notion at the time. Today, over 230 years later, it should be a no-brainer.

One such human right is the right to free speech. It is not a right granted by the 1st Amendment, but rather protected by it. "Shall not be abridged" does NOT mean that we should be grateful to the government for allowing us to speak -- it means that we must change or replace our government if it attempts to deprive us of that right.

A government can only limit your right to free speech -- it cannot grant it. You possess that right because you simply are, not because of what or who you are, or where you were born, or what piece of land you happen to be standing upon. This is something every single citizen should know. If you don't know the difference between a human and a civil right, or don't appreciate the radical vision of people like Jefferson, Adams, Paine, and the rest of them who built the artificial construct we call our country, then you lack the capacity to comprehend what it really means to be a patriotic American.

So, no -- I will not thank the troops for my right to free speech. There are many reasons to be thankful to our men and women in uniform, but thanking them for a right that no person or entity can grant is not one of them.

On hearing such a remark, the response of a true patriot should be, "FUCK YOU!"