First Amendment Infringed!

Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Having blown past the idea of constitutionally limited power, the government is now infringing on The Bill of Rights -- that's the list of things that our founders said no good government should ever do. Item one, item two, item nine and item ten have been under attack for some time now.

I don't care if it's the Occupy Wall Street crowd or the tea parties. We have the right to protest. Period. This bill (HR 347) had broad support from both parties in congress. I suppose the Republicans were happy to infringe on the 99%-ers, and the Democrats were happy to infringe on the tea partiers. In the interest of keeping police cars clean, and protecting government leaders, don't you know.

This highlights a fundamental lack of understanding of The Constitution of the United States, by a majority of national leaders. Does it seem odd that the mainstream news media are completely un-curious about this?

Update: Lest you think that this is just some right wing rant, it is worth noting that the ACLU is also concerned about it, although for slightly different reasons. Where's the national dialogue?

Update II: Here's who voted, and how. It isn't the Republicans' finest hour.

Update III: The bill itself. My guess is that most reps voted for this bill without realizing the egregiousness of it. Read the bill, folks! Didn't you learn anything from ObamaCare?