The US Declaration of Independence in part reads, "all men are...are endowed...with certain unalienable Rights...That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

Question: do you think that the Founders thought that the Americans were special in having these rights, or do you think they viewed this as a universal among all peoples?

I've been looking at what has been going down in Egypt, and all the protests, and despite a hell of a lot of provocation from the police, the protesters are remaining peaceful. I know that song and dance.

At this point, there is only one guy standing in the way of progress in Egypt. I won't name names, but his initials are Hosni Mubarak. It seems that virtually the entire country is demanding his outster. Mubarak has no consent from his people, and so Egypt has come to a stand still.

This is a very important lesson for Americans. Many think that "the people have the power" is just a fantasy, or some Utopian ideal, but what we're seeing in Egypt is that it's actually true. That no government can exist unless you give it permission to exist.

Mubarak is a single man standing in the way of progress. The moment that those protesters decide to take smallest step of arresting Mubarak, instead of remaining perfectly peaceful, then it's all over except for the shouting.

And, why would they want to arrest him. They want him removed. They would see arresting him as demeaning all Egyptians in the eyes of the world. They can take pride in standing up to him and having him relinquish his powers, leaving, and making certain his son doesn't succeed him, but arresting him and treating him as a criminal would cause them embarrassment and shame.

First of all, the Declaration says "All men," so that means everywhere, not just in the US.  What a nice thought, right?  But let's not forget what that meant in 1776.  It literally meant all men, not women.  Oh, and not even all men, unless you understand that as all white men.  So there was substantial hypocrisy in the Declaration from Day One.  We had to fight a Civil War because of it.  Just wanted to clarify.  Still and all, I love what brave Egyptians are doing and hope they drive Mubarak into the Red Sea.

Tom "the sex slave owner" Jefferson is believed to have written that.  But feel free to ellipse it out to fit your needs.

I'm sure that would unitify the masses there - historically atheist movements have revolutionized human rights.

The idea that humans have inalienable  rights is total bullshit. Rule of law gives humans rights. There is no god!

Rules of law are bullshit. Government does not give rights.  It only takes. You should know that by now.

There is no god.

For the sake of argument, if there were no God, there wouldn't be any rights. That's proven scientific fact.

-- Modified on 2/9/2011 10:29:21 AM

Oh wait. That's what I said about political power. Never mind, same thing when you're a Communist.