By presidential proclamation, December 15 is Bill of Rights Day.  President Donald Trump urges Americans to take time to "recognize the key role of the [federal] Bill of Rights in protecting our individual liberties and limiting the power of government." While we are better off for having the first ten amendments to the Constitution, it is intellectually dishonest for the media and our national leaders to pay such obeisance to the Bill of Rights.  The Bill of Rights is a mere shadow of the protections the states originally urged Congress to pass and pales in comparison to the rights guaranteed in many state constitutions. James Madison, the primary architect of the Bill of Rights, merely sought to mollify Anti-Federalist critics of the Constitution without imposing real limits on the powers of the federal government. The various states had sent Congress many substantive amendments that would have limited federal power and protected individual...(Read Full Article)