92% of Americans believe that their basic rights are under threat.

USA Today/Getty.

A new poll says that 92% of Americans believe that their basic rights are under threat. USA Today.  Americans ranked free speech as their most concerned right with 48% saying it was at risk, with the right to keep and bear arms at 47%. 41% said that their right to equal justice, a fair trial and presumption of innocence was at risk as well. Freedom of expression and freedom of religion were at 37% and 35% respectively. 

My Comment:

I tend to agree with the polling, our rights are under threat. And I think most Americans agree, even if they don't always agree with which ones are under threat. Indeed, I think a decent portion of the American public would like some of those rights to go away. 

I would say that our freedom of speech is almost gone in this country. Sure you can say whatever you want in the privacy of your own homes and the government can do little to stop you but if you want to actually reach anyone and change anyone's mind you pretty much have to use the internet. And more and more frequently these huge tech companies are deciding what can and cannot be said. I know I have to censor myself all the time both here on my blog and on my social media platforms if I want to avoid a ban. 

The threat to free speech isn't really from the government, it's from these tech giants. People like to argue that the 1st amendment doesn't apply to private companies, and that's true to an extent, but free speech isn't just about the 1st amendment. In what manner is speech free if you cannot speak or write in a way that anyone can hear? 

Gun rights are more of a mixed bag that really depends on what part of the country you live in. In many states rights are being restored, and we have even gained back some of our rights. For example, concealed carry is now legal in some form in all 50 states, which wasn't true awhile ago. I know in some of those states it's still essentially a defacto ban if you are a regular Joe but the fact remains that the right to actually carry arms is now country wide. And some states, like Kansas and Alaska, have got further to secure the right to keep and bear arms. 

But in blue states controlled by the Democrats? It's getting worse than Europe in some of those states. Assault weapon bans, red flag laws, magazine limits and even registration are rearing their ugly heads. Sure, compliance is non-existent but the fact remains that you could be a felon in these states for simply owning a piece of plastic and metal that happens to be a gun. 

What's happening in Virginia is a good example of this. Outside forces flooded the state's election with millions of dollars allowing the Democrats to take all three branches of their government and immediately allowing Democrats to threaten new gun laws. The backlash has been fierce and there is some evidence that they are going to back down but you can't argue that the right to keep and bear arms in Virginia isn't under severe threat.

I also think that the right to a fair trial is going away too. Though there haven't been too many examples recently, I think back to the George Zimmerman and Darren Wilson cases where outside pressure forced prosecution on people that very obviously didn't do anything wrong. Those cases were correctly decided in the end, but the men still had their lives ruined. 

At the federal level too we have seen some disgusting kangaroo style courts that show that there just isn't any respect for the rules of evidence anymore. The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings was this with wild accusations that would never stand up in court flung around without any consideration of presumption of innocence. And let's not even get into the impeachment farce... 

Still, with all that being said, I do think that things will likely change. The culture war seems to be a bit more calm right now with most people either tuning it out or being exhausted with it. And I think there are lot of people that are beginning to stand up for their rights. I do hope that Americans are wrong and we will still be able to enjoy our rights for a long time to come.