In his analysis of the ongoing Henry Louis Gates embroglio, Christopher Hitchens makes a startling assertion (which Jason Kottke approvingly quotes). In defense of Prof. Gates, he writes (emphasis added) that It is the U.S. Constitution, and not some competitive agglomeration of communities or constituencies, that makes a citizen the sovereign of his own home […]

The concept of rights has been turned upside-​​down in recent years, as the traditional notion of natural rights inhering in the individual has been replaced with a Progressive understanding of rights emanating from the state.