Originally Posted by PatrickHenry1775
The U.S. Constitution does not guarantee rights. We Americans have a host of rights that pre-date the Constitution and exist independent of the Constitution. The Constitution limits the powers of the national government. As for a source, refer to The Federalist Papers. The Bill of Rights was basically an inducement to people skittish about a written document conveying many duties to a central government so they would agree to ratify the Constitution. We should be very clear about the issue of rights and their origins, so that the current administration's actions are seen in the proper context.
I disagree.
The Federalist Papers are a series of essays written by the framers of the Constitution. They are helpful in understanding the thinking that went into this document, but they have no legal impact on the document itself. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and thus part of the Constitution itself. I posit that this
is where rights are described and delineated.
To illustrate, let's say for the sake of argument that there are rights, as you say, "that pre-date the Constitution and exist independent of the Constitution." What are these rights, specifically? Has anyone ever claimed any of these extra-Constitutional rights to have been violated? If so, what court heard the claim, and what was the basis for its ruling? And, just to bring this back on track, how do these so far unnamed rights impact on the topic of this discussion, that "the bad guys have won?"