Constitutional Rights, Shmonstitutional Rights

Lest anyone think that the Democrats, the Obama administration, or in particular - Hillary Clinton - support democracy, watch this video. Ray McGovern did not shout out, did not heckle, did not cause any disruption whatsoever. NONE. All he did was stand and turn his back on Clinton while she was talking. It was a SILENT protest. McGovern did not speak out until after the police assaulted him. And as one can see in the video, Clinton barely bats an eye and doesn't skip a beat - as she's spewing propaganda and rhetoric about Egypt's popular rising and quest for democracy.

To call Hillary Clinton a hypocrite doesn't even begin to cover it.

But wait, the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution protects freedom of speech, right? So we're taught.

The reality is that our Constitutional rights are not worth a plug nickel. Just try exercising one of them when the government tells you not to. Remember Bush's "free speech zones?" Look, I can understand that when someone is giving a press conference or speech that maybe they have an equal right to be heard. Not always, but I can see an argument for it. I can also see the argument for immediate response to someone's public remarks. If a speaker has the right to speak, so does someone else have the right to respond.

Nonetheless, McGovern wasn't interrupting Clinton in the least and his Constitutional right to free speech was CLEARLY being infringed, in front of a high-level government official who was talking about rights! Don't tell me she didn't know, she knew.

To make matters worse, the police abused McGovern, who was beaten and bloodied. See the photos below. Constitutional rights? Yeah, right.

This type of thuggery and repression is what Egyptians and others in the Middle East have risen up against, yet here we are in the "land of the free" and a 71-year old man is bloodied by cops merely for standing up and turning his back. Had he posed a credible threat, e.g., was trying to throw something at Clinton, I could understand it (though not justify it). Clinton deserves a well-aimed shoe in her direction. Yet this is not what McGovern did. He merely exercised his Constitutional right, and was beaten for it.

It's been said that when Fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in an American flag. Well, America - how do you like it now?

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his career as a CIA analyst, he prepared and briefed the President's Daily Brief and chaired National Intelligence Estimates. He is a member of the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).