At least their attention is in the right place - now teach them.

On one end of the road stood a group clutching Kerry signs, eagerly awaiting his arrival. At the other, the gaggle of Bush supporters waved hand-lettered placards with messages like "John Kerry for president of France" and "I voted for Kerry before I voted against him."

This from the Times (I can't remember which one). I love to see the Bushies out and about where Kerry is. This means we have their attention.

What about their intentions? Suppose they support Bush? Well, I say we have ten weeks to educate their intentions.

On November 2nd, we will go to the polls. We will sit down with our ballots. We will look at them, read them and drink in the reality that we are closer now than two centuries ago, to living under the direct control of a ruthless tyrant. Not having the right to vote, not having the right to speak our mind. I truly believe, in that moment of reckoning, even John McCain will not have the blind stupidity to vote for Bush. Pound this disturbing picture into their soft heads, in the meantime:

Four years from now, with four years and two and a half months as a lame duck, you'd better believe Bush would be a lame duck with a score to settle against the rights of free speech, the right to vote, the right to gather and even, perhaps, the right to not be forced to board troops. (Think about that one - have you ever been afraid before for your third amendment rights?) And this man took an oath to support and defend the Constitution, against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Bush is the leader of the domestic enemy of the Constitution.

He hates the first amendment. He has a reputation for liking the second, because he really likes blood and money. Then there's the third.

The third amendment protects us against the government from forcing us to board troops. I think he will blindside this amendment with a freight train in a second term. Mark my words, I have a feeling that usually comes to fruition on this one. It would not be that far from his goons infiltrating your church or your library. Your boarder could be a secret agent. Go ask him.

His justice department has been handed the Patriot and Homeland Security Acts to walk all over our fourth amendment rights in the name of the victims of September 11. What about the tens of thousands who died in the Revolution? Those who fought and died so that we could have the right to enshrine these freedoms in the first place. Bush dishonors their sacrifice by destroying what they died for.

He tortures people into giving up their fifth amendment rights. Just like King George. The sixth amendment rights of hundreds, if not thousands have been denied by the Bush administration. Two words: Brandon Mayfield.

Now, as to the seventh amendment, he laid out his plan to gut this one at the convention. Tort reform? Sounds like the denial of the right to a hearing in front of a jury of my peers to me. Bush would have you believe you deserve only he twenty dollars mentioned here (as the minimum amount of damages you can claim under common law, but I think lower amounts have been awarded) for your pain and suffering.

The eighth amendment, against excessive bail, has been subverted numerous times by not even filing charges against private citizens taken into federal custody. And then there's the ninth. Do you really think that George believes we have rights not enumerated specifically in the constitution? If you do, name ten. That should be easy enough, just the same number of amendments in the bill of rights.

And then the tenth amendment. The State's rights. To essentially take custody over issues not addressed by the deliberately limited number given to the federal (note: NOT republican) government in the Constitution. Four words: No Child Left Unregulated. Even if the Constitution gives me no power to regulate education or local governments. And then there's his gay-basher amendment. What's next? My right to vote if I don't own stock in GE?

Here's my list of 10 unenumerated rights not in the Bill of Rights (make your own list):

1. I have the right to vote, even though I do not own land.
2. I have the right to vote without paying for that right.
3. I have the right to not be someone's slave.
4. I have the right to Due Process under the law.
5. I have the right to have a safe and legal abortion. (I do not mock, just making a point.)
6. I have had the right to vote since I was 18.
7. I have the right burn a flag in protest of my government.
8. I have the right to resist the government taking away any of my rights .
9. I have the right to redress when I am discriminated against because of my beliefs, skin color, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age.
10. I have the right to live in a state which does not discriminate against gays.

And to just do one better:

11. I have the right to civil disobedience.

Given this sort of information to mull over, Kerry seems like a breath of heaven after four years of hell. President Kerry will make our lives better, beginning November 3, when the world learns we have rejected little w.