the dnc free speech cage
i just want to drop a brief comment before the boston fiasco begins….
a federal judge has refused to order the city to tear down a caged zone for anti-DNC protesters.
i hope this works out, i really do. but i’ve spoken on the concept of “free speech zones” before, and how they are unamerican. today, i want to make two points.
1) terrorism, and now, the uncontested speculative threat of civil disobedience mis-labeled as terrorism has won a significant victory against america. this ruling, and the resulting compromise of constitutionally-established rights of americans may have been a specific goal of the attackers on 9/11. if not, it’s a great bonus and victory for them. americans have now done more damage to our own freedoms than any attack or war ever could. for all the talk from our leaders that “they” hate freedom, “we” have done more damage to the actual freedoms we supposedly cherish in this nation, and we have done so willingly and out of fear. this week, americans will be in cages, for daring to speak in public. we’re not talking about abstract things like “american ideals” or “patriotism” anymore. we’re talking about concrete barricades and steel fences.
2) this cage sets the stage for massive physical harm and automatic arrest or detention of protesters during the dnc event in boston. if that happens, it should be painfully obvious that we have taken this campaign of fear too far. it will be the act of a police state against a civilian population, and it should be impossible to ignore. my worst fear is that some incident will result in the police using tear gas on people trapped in a confined space with no escape.
we may be “safe” under our missile shield, but we will have compromised everything we cherish in the process.
ben franklin (or so they tell me)They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security
never in our history – not after pearl harbor, and not even during a civil war – has this nation been closer to making that deal. ben warned us.
thomas jefferson (or so they tell me)Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.
tj feared for us.
it is now. we have to decide.
