It means we have rights. Rights that many have fought for and given their lives for. Unfortunately in current America there is, for the most part, two separate classes of citizenship, a bipartisanship if you will. You have the poor and then you have the wealthy. Yes, there is a middle class, but the republicans and George Bush are slowly getting rid of this class. Their reason for this is simple. The middle class doesn’t like a government that only favors the rich and it has a voice. The middle class also provides a door for many to become rich. The rich and wealthy don’t like the poor and don’t like to fraternize outside of their class. So, needless to say, if the republicans (the rich and wealthy) have their way there will only be two classes left, the poor and the wealthy.

Basically, this is how it works. In America you have a right to great health care if you are rich or have a great employer sponsored plan. Due to the rising cost of healthcare many employers are limiting or ending these plans for employees. Of course, at the same time, executives are actually getting more benefits than ever. So basically, the reality is you have a right to marginal health care. The great health care George Bush says we have is reserved for the rich.

You also have the right to vote. What you don’t know and the government doesn’t want you to know is that your votes don’t count or matter. Just look at the close election between George Bush and Al Gore. Al Gore really won, but Jeb Bush, George Bush’s brother and Governor of Florida played around with Florida’s votes and voila George won. This is even though he had fewer votes. If you watched Michael Moore’s documentary Farenheit 9/11 you will see that many voters were outraged that their votes were not included. This was especially so with lower class and primarily black or African Americans. None were allowed to have a voice or make a formal complaint because they needed a senator to back them and of course none would speak out against Jeb or George Bush. What happened here is simple, George and Jeb Bush have conspired to great political power. What they did was dig up dirt and such on every political official that might become a problem and let them know what they have so they would just let this happen. This is not a true democracy. It is becoming more like socialist Russia 20 years ago. How can we liberate Iraq when we are not liberated ourselves?

You have the right or responsibility to pay taxes. Yes, only in America do the rich on average pay only 1% or less of their income in taxes while the middle class and lower class pay on average 35% of their income. Only the rich can afford powerful tax attorneys and fancy tax havens. It was recently made known that many of the rich have even set up trusts in childrens names that they don’t have. Don’t worry, your rich, the government probably won’t catch it and if they do you’ll get off easy. Its amazing what you can get away with in America if you have money. Look at O.J. Simpson. You can literally kill someone and then hide your assets so no one can touch your money. O.J. claimed he was broke and had no funds. Right. Just look at each presidents outgoing list of pardons when they leave office. All rich and wealthy people looking to escape felonies and similar that would put most Americans behind bars for many years. If you are rich and are facing something awful, just make a donation or two of $500,000 to a presidents library fund or similar and you’ll be amazed at what you can get away with.

As citizens we are not guilty until proven innocent. Actually, the poor are basically guilty, and the rich will get out of it, regardless. Actually, the rich don’t even get arrested sometimes. Just look at Senator Kennedy. You can drive drunk, hit a concrete barrier, be observed as being drunk by several sworn officers and be driven home. The rest of us would be given the breathalizer and thrown in the drunk tank to await a court date for either DUI or DWUI (as senator Kennedy claimed it was a medication problem). He was drunk or under the influence and could have killed someone.

There are many more rights that we have or don’t really have and are actually reserved for the rich and wealthy, but I’ll get into those in a later article. I’m busy now reading an article from the Associated Press on how George Bush’s wife ran a stop sign when she was 17 and killed someone but she was never charged with any crime. Yes America is a truly great democracy – if you are rich and wealthy