Freedom of Speech

People who say they're proud to be an American because we have it better than the subjects of any other government are for the most part, full of shit. What they don't know is that our basic rights, commonly believed to be the first 10 amendments to the constitution, were drawn up to temporarily silence the public hysteria which was building over fears of a powerful executive branch in the infantile United States. Constitutional amendments, as made perfectly clear by the Bush crew, are not enforceable and must be interpreted by the court on a case-by-case basis in order to be upheld as a law. So granting someone their rights as a U.S. citizen depends on what judges are appointed to the court, which depends on what groups the executive branch wishes to please.
Last week I was taking some heat from a company I helped bail out of trouble, Bank of America. They denied a claim I made 2 months ago regarding several unauthorized transactions on my stolen debit card. Without warning, they reversed the temporary credit I received when I made the claim, leaving me high and dry for over a week. Whether it's morally wrong or not, the bank legally has every right to do this because it's printed in the disclosure agreement. Pleading over the phone and in letters had no effect on these marginalized souls in matters of retrieving lost money, so I decided to exercise the only constitutional right which the supreme court has continually upheld...freedom of speech.
My ragtag poster board sign displaying two of my opinions of this bank in black and red permanent marker looked innocuous, but holding it up at Long Beach Blvd and Broadway for 2 hours on a weekday afternoon felt surprisingly effective. No less than 1000 people saw it... metro riders, pedestrians, drivers, bus passengers, and one Bank of America employee who told me I should leave the public sidewalk. Talking to strangers about what happened was a great stress reliever, and I hope I got a few people to think twice about "trusting" a bank like this with their hard-earned money. However, I will never say I'm proud to be an American until our government, that is WE, take action to limit the power of financial conglomerates. Credit is bondage, interest rates are shackles, and the Fed is our master.