i dont think the constitution guarantees us the right to drive, and further there ARE laws saying you have ot have a licsense to drive, so behind the wheel, we're all pretty much at the mercy of the police.
Statements like this disturb me. Aren't people taught basic civics anymore? (The answer to that question, sadly, is NO) The fact that the Constitution is silent on the issue of driver's licenses does NOT mean that driving isn't a right we all hold.
American Political/Philosophical Thought 101:
All people have rights intrinsically. These rights are granted to us by our Creator, NOT by the government.
In order to get along better socially and internationally, the People of the United States delegated certain authorities to the Federal gov't. Among those authorities are the power to repel invasion, negotiate treaties, establish a mail sistem, etc. (See Article I, Sections 8,9, and 10 of the Consitution for the list of those authorities delegated to the Feds)
Those are the ONLY authorities that the Federal government was to have. Several of the states, fearing that our rights might be miscontrued or abused, insisted that "further declaratory and restictive clauses should be added" to the Constitution. Those declaratory and restrictive clasues became the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is expressely inteded declare general truths and ideals (e.g. "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,") and to restrict the Fed from taking specific actions (e.g. "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.")
THE BILL OF RIGHTS DOES NOT GRANT RIGHTS TO THE PEOPLE!!! Say it out loud, folks. "THE BILL OF RIGHTS DOES NOT GRANT RIGHTS TO THE PEOPLE!!" The People already have their rights, by virtue of being alive. The Bill of Rights RESTRICTS THE FEDERAL GOV'T from abusing the Peoples' rights.
Now, that should be enough to establish that the People do not need to ask permission of the gov't to do almost anything (e.g. to drive a car). But just in case that too was miscontrued or abused, they wrote the 9th and 10th Ammendments into the Bill of Rights.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
The various State Constitutions work the same way: they are a list of authorities delegated to the State by the People. Authorities not expressely granted to the State by the State Constitution belong exclusively to the People.
Two things should be clear at this point. First, driving is a right, not a privilege. Second, unless a the Fed Constituion grants authority to the Fed to perform random stops (and it doesn't, trust me) the Fed does not have the authority to do so. Likewise, unless your State Constitution grants that authority to your state (and I don't know of any that do), your State does not have that authority. Finally, the 4th and 5th Ammendments explicitly prohibit either the Fed or any of the States from performing such blanket, causeless searches.
Sorry for the long rant, but like I said, it disturbs me when people don't understand this. It should come as no wonder that so many of us are alarmed at the random police stops, checkpoints, compulsory ID, and other such police fishing expeditions. The 4th and 5th Ammendments specifically prohibit this sort of behavior (in theory).
Key point - those checkpoints assume that YOU! are breaking the law - that YOU! are guilty of some crime without any evidence to that effect. Your paperz, Bitte!. It's exactly the same thing.
