Reply #55: Exactly right. The government does not grant rights. The government

[mbperrin]

must be kept from abridging our rights.

And absolutely, when we treat people from other countries badly, then what moral argument do we have when US citizens abroad are?

Example: one missionary goes into North Korea illegally and openly. If he were hung out to dry by the North Korean government, there would be such an outcry: OMG! He's a US citizen! We've got to do everything to get him back and treated nicely, even though he did break a sovereign country's laws.

Besides, the abrogation of anyone's rights by the US government is simply an admission that open societies don't work and must always revert to authoritarianism under the slightest pressure.

Ben Franklin: They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.