John G. Diefenbaker Quotes
We must vigilantly stand on guard within our own borders for human rights and fundamental freedoms which are our proud heritage......w e cannot take for granted the continuance and maintenance of those rights and freedoms.
Diefenbaker, John G. House of Commons Debates. Queen's Printer, 1 July 1960, p. 5649.
Note the use of the phrase “against the government.” One of the unique aspects of the American Constitution and The Bill of Rights is that the government is considered a potential and even probable infringer on the liberties of the people. It is almost as though the government was the potential enemy. Modern libertarians state this very explicitly and it is ever present in the views of both the right and left wings of American politics. Most centrists recoil at the thought that some citizens see the government as the enemy, but even in America there have been times where the government has infringed on the rights of citizens only to have the courts or future administrations and Congresses correct the error.
The early legal meaning of Civil Rights was very narrow. It referred to rights in normal non-governmental activities---shopping, education, social interaction, etc. However, it was the government who was depended on to enforce these rights. Later activities operated by state and local government were included like public education or the right to use a public bathroom, and for many even includes voting rights. Modern definitions consider civil rights to include all those rights to which an individual is entitled by virtue of his citizenship—including voting rights and others having to do with government—especially those of the 13th and 14th Amendments.
It is ironic that Pakistan, the creation of Jinnah’s efforts, has to a great extent adopted Sharia (Islamic Law) resulting in severe curtailment of freedom of speech and thought. Professors languish in jail for not teaching the history of Muhammed in the orthodox way, people are sentenced to death for what the local mullahs regard as blasphemy—results which from Jinnah’s point of view were terrible.
Two years after 9-11 the George W. Bush administration was pushing the envelope on due process, ethnic profiling and other civil rights issues. Clinton wanted to be helpful so he chastised those civil libertarians who were totally fixated on civil rights to the exclusion of almost all else.
See {587703} for a similar statement by a Supreme Court Justice.
This is probably the first known use of the Bill of Rights phrase in the English language. For the earliest American use, see Edward Rutledge.
John George Diefenbaker PC CH QC FRSC FRSA was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. Between 1930 and 1979, he was the only federal Progressive Conservative (PC or Tory) leader to lead the party to an election victory, doing so three times, although only once with a majority of seats in the House of Commons of Canada.
