This Is Freedom ?

This composite picture (shamelessly stolen from the blog of Yellowdog Granny) should make all Americans stop and think. We are a nation that prides itself on our Constitution and it's Bill of Rights. So why is it that when peaceful American citizens try to speak freely, peaceably assemble, and redress their government for their grievances, it winds up far too many times looking just like the scenes in a dictatorship?

The pictures on the right, from Bahrain and Tunisia, are no surprise because those countries don't have the constitutional freedoms supposedly guaranteed to Americans. But the pictures on the left are another matter. They should remind Americans that we are not yet as free as we thought we were or want to be. Our government, at all levels (local, state, and federal) doesn't seem to mind at all ignoring the Constitution and suppressing free speech -- especially if they find that speech uncomfortable or in opposition to those in power.

Free speech is meaningless unless it can be used to speak truth to those in power. It's time for the American people to demand that our government, at all levels, respect and obey the Constitution and its Bill of Rights. A Constitution that is not rigorously followed by all government authorities is useless and might as well not even exist.