Remember the old saying, "Your freedom ends at the tip of my nose?"  The left never heard of it.

For years, the left has tweaked America's nose at every opportunity.  From running amok in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Convention to the now annual May Day riot in Seattle, the left squanders hard won freedom to stomp on the liberty of fellow citizens.

In the run-up to such spectacles of destruction, leftists always claim they have the "right to protest."  The Bill of Rights says no such thing.  It reads thus:

The people shall not be restrained from peaceably assembling and consulting for their common good, nor from applying to the legislature by petitions, or remonstrances for redress of their grievances.

Because the left long ago lost its raison d'être, the issues leftists recently indulge have become inconsequential and childish.  This results in hostile displays completely out of proportion to the infantile status of their cause.  We are witnessing temper tantrums camouflaged as valid dissent.

Blocking rush hour traffic deprives other citizens of their right to freedom of movement.

Shutting down conservative discourse on any college campus violates the right of free speech.

What are the great issues the left uses to violate the rights of others?  In the case of May Day Mayhem in Seattle, masked marauders demand a socialist form of government.  Nothing is preventing them from putting such a measure on the ballot, but therein lies a risk of defeat, and that would be intolerable.  So they smash windows and burn cars like four-year-olds.  They call their contempt for the property rights of others their "right to protest."  Look up a video, and you will find a nasty component of exhibitionism about all of this, something akin to monkeys given free rein for a day.

The exhibitionism continues – the left cannot abide separate facilities at Target stores because your space must become their space.  This eliminates your right to privacy.

Today, it looks as though powerful protesters from the left imbedded in the CIA and FBI and DoJ attempted a silent coup in order to disregard the voting rights of 63 million citizens of the United States.

None of these actors is interested in using freedom wisely and judiciously.  They are instead binging on power.

The Founders would be perplexed and perhaps saddened to see so many people abusing the liberty they gifted to the United States of America.  Exploiting and expanding your rights at the expense of the rights of others is a contemptible way to employ that still rare and valuable gift.

There is a remote possibility that relieving yourself in front of uncomfortable members of the opposite sex at the local five-and-dime is exactly the type of freedom the Founders had in mind.

But that depends upon the degree of selfishness and dishonesty one applies to the word "freedom."