Freedom

The America of my youth is gone. I'm not scared of dying (much) from a terrorist incident, but from being caught up in a police state where a badge and a gun (not necessarily from a police officer) signifies justice and authority, while help for the common citizen is naught.

As time goes on, more and more of what made this country great has been lost, either sold to corporations who shipped the jobs offshore, eliminated services under the guise of tax reduction, used the National Guard and Reserves and wasted them and their equipment in a foolish war and now privatizing the police force without all those pesky protections that the Bill or Rights used to afford the common man. It still does, as long as you are melanin impaired and can afford the service.

This article in the WaPo highlights the changes in law enforcement and how the police are outnumbered by private security officers. And what a frightening picture it is. I guess if you're one of the 25% who believe Jesus is returning to Earth this year you don't have to worry about anything.

Jolly Roger is also on top of this, he found another article about how the chaplaincy of the military is 50% composed of radical Christians and the influence they are beginning to have. Maybe that little slip of Herr Bush right after September 11 wasn't really a slip at all. Maybe it is a Crusade.

It's absolutely fascinating in an abstract way to watch America become a fundamentalist society. Knowing that they will have to and are prepared to use, force, to achieve their goal of returning us to a time of female subservience, a very restrictive economic structure and a segregated society. The younger generation may be waiting for the old people to die off so they can have a more liberal society, but I don't think that strategy is going to work. If they don't stand up before the takeover is complete, it could be generations before freedom returns to America.

The freedom to express yourself. The freedom to travel within the country and not just your neighborhood, or to and from work. The freedom to feel that your thoughts and beliefs, whatever they may be, may be expressed in the privacy of your own home without fear of government intrusion. The freedom to change your mind. The freedom to choose; lifestyle, career, religion, or whether or not to have children. The freedom to require that your government honor the Constitution, not treat it as an old piece of paper.

Brave men and women have died for us to have those freedoms and in some instances still do. From our Founding Fathers to the soldiers and journalists of today, they have paid the ultimate price for us to have those freedoms, maybe we should exercise them before they're gone forever? Hmm?

3Bs