Great quote to repeat from Rhandi

[FreedomAngel82]

I'm listening to her show from today (er yesterday I guess) and she's talking to that one guy (Jim or John something) who was at the end of what happened today in the Congress hearings. We should repeat this often and her question was: why are they afraid of free speech? If they have nothing to hide why did what happen today did happen? We're not in a dictatorship but a republic and we have free speech so why are they so afraid? Everybody should listen to that show cause she had some great interviews from Shelia Jackson-Lee, Debbie Schultz and the guy who spoke after what's his name left.

[punpirate]

1. With regard to those...

... freedoms, here's a quote from Bush when addressing Congress shortly after 2001: "They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other."

Are these not exactly the same freedoms which have been under attack by Bush and the Republicans for the last several years (in attempting to institutionalize rightist conservative Christianity in government, by establishing "free speech zones" and telling people to "watch what they say," by actively subverting the vote through questionable voting methods and practices and aggressive attempts to intimidate minorities at and around the polls,and by their attempts to stifle rights to assembly and petition of government by stacking taxpayer-funded events with only voices comfortable to the administration). This action today by Sensenbrenner is just part of a longstanding pattern.

Cheers.

[teryang]

2. "We're not in a dictatorship"

That's an assumption.

I saw a movie recently with Charles Laughton. I believe he played a school teacher in Nazi occupied Austria. Jews were being rounded up. Leftists and other resisters were also being rounded up. Laughton was charged with murder and being associated with the resistance, of which he really wasn't guilty. The remarkable thing was that he actually got a trial with the accoutrements of due process at which he was permitted to speak at length in his own defense. He spoke of his avoidance of political issues and his desire to stay out of the fray. In his jail cell, his Nazi overloads offered him a way out of the prosecution if he would work for them. In order to protect those he knew who were fighting tyranny, Laughton had an epiphany and decided to accept responsibility for resisting the Germans and he was condemned to death.

My point is that the accoutrements of a free government do not necessarily represent a free government. An innocent person may get a fair trial yet in our country. That doesn't mean we aren't embarked on a dictatorship. Much of what goes on in Congress is form over substance and vestigal democracy. The executive and the party is all powerful and isn't really accountable to Congress, the Courts or anyone else for that matter.