NSFJojo:
You jackass.
Everyone else:
I just love being a second-class citizen. I love it that the government happily takes my money and yet says, "You're not responsible enough to walk into a bar and buy a beer."
I live on OU campus, so I know what happens when you turn 18-21 year olds loose with too much beer. However, it is INDIVIDUALS that get drunk and do dumb shit. It is not an age group, or a demographic. Most 18-21 year olds drink too much given the chance, but not ALL. I want (no, demand!) to be treated as a CITIZEN by my government, not a sheep, or a misguided young person. Punish the INDIVIDUAL who committed the crime, not the person who happens to be 19.
I think that the government has lost sight of what a republic is about: rights. I agree with Heinlein when he says that we have no natural rights. (re: Starship Troopers, a very deep book for what it is.) The Constuition says that we as a people feel that our government should NOT infringe upon the things that are stated in it. So, you have no RIGHT to free speech, but we agree as a people that the government should not stop you from speaking. (Although, if you're saying dumb shit, other people might!) Our government was supposed to be about guarding people's freedoms; i.e. making sure that what we allow in the Constuition is not infringed upon by the government. Enter FDR, Klinton, etc. that used the Constuition as their toilet paper, and the system breaks down.
So what I would like to do, in this vein, is give an idea. We DESERVE your freedoms. We are holding up our end of the social contract by paying taxes and being a productive citizen. So, I would like to issue a challenge to anyone who wants to take away my 'rights' (anti-gunners, supporters of the PATRIOT Act, MADD, etc.) with the same mechanism that was designed to protect them:
"Dear (person),
I, TXX XXXXXX XXXXX, IV, laborer, college student, PFC OKARNG, Eagle Scout, and productive member of society, having no criminal record of any kind, do hereby challenge you to find the moral standing on your part to deprive me of my (firearm, freedom of speech and assembly, beer) according to the law that you support. I challenge you to say this to my face, in person, at (time) on (day) at (place). If you are unwilling to do so or fail to appear without a reasonable excuse, I shall hold you to be a dishonorable hypocrite who is a menace to the freedoms that my forefathers fought for for the American people. You shall consequently feel the full force of effort on my part to ensure that you enjoy no position of responsibility or power within any federal, state, county, or municipal government for the duration of your natural life.
Signed."
No, I do not drink, rarely speak in public, and do not own any type of restricted weapon (to my knowledge; I understand that nail-clippers are getting to be a restricted item these days); however, to my mind, the efforts of scum like the people frequently broadsided on this site (Feinstein, Schumer, et. al.) to restrict my freedoms out of a belief that I cannot manage my own affairs is not merely alarming, but positively insulting. Does anyone else here feel that way?
I shall send some copies of this out. I felt rather inspired at this late time in the evening. Perhaps it's just sleepiness. ;)
I did not put my name in that because it is not smart to broadcast one's name on the Internet. Not that a competent investigator couldn't use that information to find out who I am anyway, but that there's no sense in just giving it out for free. My name shall be in any that I send to someone.
Anyone who wants to, feel free to edit for your personal situation and use.