Put out your flag: It's Bill of Rights day

I'm putting up my flag Thursday, Dec. 15. It's the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment.

If we celebrate the 4th of July, we should definitely celebrate the Bill of Rights. The Founding Fathers could've been drunk when they wrote the Declaration of Independence. It's clear, they had to be sober when writing the Bill of Rights.

This country would look a lot different if the 70 or so people who met in Philly in 1791 hadn't decided the English common law our Constitution was modeled after needed some basic guarantees for average folks.

Alas, the First Amendment allows me to raise more hell at my newspaper editor job than is probably socially acceptable most places.

Today, I encourage you to make your kids learn the five freedoms of the First Amendment. Of religion, of the press, of speech, of assembly and the right to petition your government.

Pay attention Occupy Wall Streeters and Tea Partiers.

Yes, people with money and big media may have "more free speech" than most of us, but we still all have two choices: Speak or be silent. Silence is worse.

So raise your glasses, raise your flags. Be impertinent, outspoken and a pain to your government, corporations, politicians or whoever you want.

There's no penalty.