Ignoring Liberty

A friend recently wrote to me:

The governmentt doesn't have more power now over the insignificant parts of our lives, only to monitor those who counter the "popular" opinion.

This was in response to an email in which I included a link, noting a particularly egregious case of Iranian propaganda. He and I went back and forth via email a number of times. Each time I pointed out another instance of the depraved propaganda millions suffer under across the globe, my friend, a fellow patriotic American, somehow found cause to attempt to point out his perception of our lack of freedom in this country, and the stifling of our freedom by the Bush administration.

Another friend said:

Aside from that, I really don't want the government flagging me if I decide to take certain books out of the library / visit certain websites. You won't find any examples if FISA action for the simple fact that no lawyer in his/her right mind would put up a case against the government and challenge the act itself. Think about it from the government's standpoint, if they were to expedite someone to a country that allows torture (US Citizen or not), do you think they would ever let it go public?

To which I responded:

You can look at the evidence [or lack thereof] for rampant US abuse of civil liberties, and conclude that perhaps the issue has been hyped up a bit too much.

OR, you can take the back-handed, groundless, shameful route and just claim the lack of evidence is simply proof that the government is covering it up! (Strange, when you have every Tom, Dick and Harry with an Internet connection, or with an invite to a Pundit's talk show, complaining about airline seat size, long lines and rough toilet paper, but would they be able to scrounge up someone used and abused by the Feds and the scary 'FISA' act? nooooooo) I will leave you to your perceived truths. Cling to your proof of evidence via a lack of evidence; it makes you sound brainy in that paranoid hippy conspiracy kinda way.

Yet another friend supplied this video [Click on the image]:




However, none of my replies were as skillful or eloquent as this piece by Oleg Atbashian [Excerpt]:

Today’s anti-Bush rallies in the U.S. demand the very opposite of what the pro-freedom Soviets rallied for. By advocating for the government control of economy, the ideological monopoly of the Left, and massive redistribution of wealth, American leftists espouse the same ideas as the backward Soviet hardliners - same song, different verse.

These self-absorbed “progressives” don’t want to hear about the strife of the Soviet people who had learned the hard way that these ideas only result in massive poverty and loss of freedoms for everyone involved. In effect, the leftist rallies spit in the face of every victim of communist oppression, living or dead. That count is in the hundreds of millions.

There’s nothing heroic in disparaging democratic institutions, dishonoring the American flag, and carrying placards with anti-capitalist, anti-American slogans pre-printed for them by communist front groups with the money donated by corrupt foreign dictators. The protesters absurdly accuse this free country of being a fascist dictatorship, fully aware that an hour later they’ll be drinking expensive coffee at Starbucks - and not dragged to a political prison and getting their teeth knocked in - a likely prospect for dissidents in the countries whose leaders they idolize.

They may believe their protest leads to more freedom - but freedom can’t be increased by abusing and disparaging it. Objectively, they diminish freedom by providing hope and moral support to dictators, helping tyrants to brainwash their populations, and knocking the ground from under the feet of real fighters for freedom. That makes them a tool in the hands of a reactionary totalitarian ideology. As if supporting communist dictatorships were not enough, “progressive” rallies now also feature slogans backing the Iranian regime that imprisons and tortures its own dissidents.