>>>>The only "rights" you have are the ones you can actually defend
>>>
>>>I agree.
>>>
>>>> which are few if any.
>>>
>>>But I don't agree with this. If you're an intelligent and outspoken person, and you're not living in fear of authority, then you'll be able to defend your privledges from the Bill of Rights pretty effectively.
>>
>>Your statement comes with several conditions which do not apply to all people in even the most "democratic" of countries. The truth is that your rights are your rights until the powers that be, both "legal" and otherwise, decide to change or remove them.
>
>I guess that the 'detainees' in Gitmo who are U.S. citizens, are a case in point. Their citizenship gives them ALL the rights of the "Bill of Rights" yet there they sit, unrepresented and without access to the "due process" so otherwise highly touted.
>
>I would have thought that abuse of citizen rights would be as distasteful, if not more so, than abuse of prisoners (in Iraq). But it hardly is an issue in the U.S. Hard to imagine, really.
>
>regards

The prisoners at Gitmo are a good example. There are many examples, and not only in the US but around the world and throughout history.