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The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments of the United States constitution and guarantee certain basic freedoms to all its citizens under that constitution. As such citizens, we should all become aware of what this marvelous document does for us:

The first amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, press, and peaceable assembly as well as the right to petition the government. This is why we can criticize our government and its policies without fear, in theory. The protections of this amendment have been eroded away in this time of fear, triggered by the need of the gigantic U.S. military industrial war machine for growth and sold to us by corporate controlled media and law enforcement.

The second amendment gives us the right to bear and keep arms. This amendment remains hotly contested, mainly over the definition of what consists of a "well regulated militia". Constitutionalists maintain that the original intent was to protect us from corrupt government and corporate gangsters. This attitude is not encouraged today. Please turn in your weapons and original thoughts at the door.

The third amendment keeps soldiers from taking over our homes. After Katrina, private corporate soldiers working with the national guard disarmed countless law abiding citizens and removed them from their homes at gunpoint. Search YouTube for the video.

The fourth amendment provides protection against unreasonable search and seizure. This means the cops need reasons and signed warrants to search us and our belongings. Really. This also should apply to all this nasty spying and wiretapping that is being done illegally at the behest of our current executive branch.

The fifth amendment gives us the right to not incriminate ourselves and to not be tried twice for the same crime. This seems to be the only Amendment that politicians respect, because it has been so personally useful to them.

The sixth through ninth amendments enumerate our rights to be tried by a jury of our peers, as well as protecting us from usury and cruel and unusual punishment, like say, torture... This is why they have had to jump through so many linguistic hoops to reclassify "detainees" at Guantanamo. According to the constitution, these guys are supposed to be able to get lawyers and talk to people on the outside world, and other outrageous liberal stuff like that.

The ninth and tenth amendments cover the remaining bases, basically stating that any right not covered above shall be dealt with by the states,

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