Which freedom are you most sad to see go under the gwb knife?

[efhmc]

I pick my ability to communicate without having idiots listening in. Giving up the right to function as a person in control of ones own bodily functions (reproductive rights) ranks high also, but I think that the personal freedom to write and communicate and express anger and even hatred for our government without fear of retribution is what makes us a place of real freedom.

[patrice]

1. The freedom to organize Labor. Right to prevailing wage.

I've worked in places where the corporation mobilized against the unions. The unions didn't have a chance.

[efhmc]

2. Well, that is really a much more "real" freedom as it effects ones ability

to make a living. Unfortunately I live in a "right to work" state (an Orwellian statement if ever there was one) that gives no value to workers so that freedom was already out the door.

[patrice]

4. Weird name that, "right to work" actually means the opposite,

doesn't it: you work and no rights are consequent on that fact. Just work . . . maybe.

[efhmc]

12. The rights are for the employers, not the workers. Creepy use of

language to convey the employers' rights not the employee.

[patrice]

14. Chomsky says the corporations are the citizens of the U.S. n/t

[drdtroit]

3. The freedom that allows everyone the vote

and guarantees that every vote is counted.
:patriot:

[magellan]

6. Yup. Free, fair and transparent elections

It says something about the state of things when election monitors come in, and then aren't allowed to monitor the election in question. Ohio '04.

[efhmc]

10. You are right. Destroying my belief in the voting system in the USA

was the first and the worst thing that happened to me as a bona fide flag waving "I love America" person. After that everything was just more and more slicing up of the values that I grew up with.

[drdtroit]

22. Exactly, voting is our first line of defense

against the criminally corrupt politicians.
Sans truly transparent elections, all of the other issues become mute because the people in control will REMAIN in control.
Change can never be initiated. Oy!
:patriot:

[efhmc]

26. This really makes me depressed because we are fighting against

machines and those that put them into place. Here in my small county, our county clerk {a Dem and a very straight forward and honest person} had these things foisted on her. In other words she had no choice. She has said publicly and privately that she does not want them and that she doubts their reliability and yet here they are. We have used them once for a primary and they seemed okay. We will see what happens next when the two parties are face to face.

[Patchuli]

5. How about the one where I didn't pick gwb TWICE! eom

[Ringo84]

7. ALL of them

Not to be a smart-ass. But I've been pissed about what Jackass has been doing since 2001, right after 9/11. It's been one outrage after another. From the Patriot Act, to torture, to "I'm above the law", to wiretapping.

He has callously worked his damndest to turn our nation to martial law, all while proclaiming his "great faith in God" and how much he loves this country. His actions speak otherwise.

And Jackass' followers, all of whom would have never tolerated such abuses under a Democratic President (assuming that a Democrat would actually do any of the things that Jackass has done), have kissed his ass and defended his every word. Whether it's an example of horrible, horrible hypocrisy or deep denial, these same supporters have called US the traitors for calling our dumbass President for his anti-American actions.

We had a chance to change things in November of 2004. Unfortunately, a majority of Americans, it seems, were fooled by lies and right-wing bullshit. Kerry may not have been the next JFK, but nothing that we have tolerated since the day that a traitorous jackass was reelected President, would have never happened under his watch.

Sorry for kind of ranting a little there. In some ways, I've been deeply pissed since right after 9/11, because of "President" George W. Bush. I'd had enough sometime in 2003. I just had to get it off my chest.
Ringo

[keopeli]

15. It's hard to blame the 04 election, since it was likely rigged

When you look at what all happened in Ohio, not to mention New Mexico and others, it is evident that the subversive election stealing methods employed in 00 were simply improved for the 04 election, making the transgression less obvious.

I've been opposed to Bush since his coup d'etat on November 00. It was evident to me then that these were un-american criminals who had taken our country.

To me, when they adopted the mantra of "Stop Counting the Votes", I knew there was something terribly, terribly wrong about these people.

A true American would want every vote meticulously counted...every single vote. A true American would have met with Gore to devise a strategy for fair resolution.

How can you take an oath to uphold the Constitution right after you blunted it's founding concept of free and fair elections?

The rest has all been predictable:

The PDB predicting an attack that went unheeded.
The squandering of all of our resources.
Unforgivable misuse of the military, from torture, to murder, to hideous neglect and disdain.
Breaking of constitutional principals multiple times without remorse.
Propogandizing the American people.
Bastardizing the election process.
Collaborating with the enemy.
Secrecy to cover up crimes.

In any case, for we who have recognized these crimes from the beginning, it's nice to know that the numbers of Americans become aware of this atrocity are increasing.

[keopeli]

17. Deleted post

Delected by user.

[efhmc]

23. You are so right. The stolen 2000 election is where it all started.

Those of us with any sense KNEW where it was going after that.

[RoyGBiv]

8. The unalienable ones n/t

[Asgaya Dihi]

9. Press, right to be informed

Our media has been damaged for longer than most realize, but it's become blatant over recent years and they aren't even trying to hide it much these days. In the end a lot of our problems stem from that, we just don't know the facts about too many things and there's little real debate. Talking heads and arguments plays better in our media.

If we can't talk we can't solve anything. Loss of a real press made the rest so much easier, and harder to fix.

On a more personal loss level, probably privacy.

[efhmc]

20. I grew up with parent that took and read and loved newspapers. We

took the morning and evening edition of 2 papers. I really never heard them complain about the papers' reporting, although they were conservative on some issues and would have been considered radical on others, The idea was to be informed and they relied on those dailies to keep them informed. The editorials were on the editorial pages only. The idea that one would deform the news to reflect ones own thought was dishonest and grounds for legal action. Today we have cruel, evil, uneducated people like limbaugh, colter, hannity, etc whose "opinions" are considered truths. This is why I listen to the BBC because nowhere in America can one hear the news anymore without the distortion of the cooperate media getting into the act.

[Frustratedlady]

11. Free Speech

If one can communicate without fear, one can do most anything. Without communication, we are animals with about the same rights and privileges. Free speech also includes the privacy of speech or communication of any kind. At this point in time, I do not feel we have free speech or privacy in what we say.

[Disturbed]

13. Amendment IV

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

[efhmc]

16. This one is like that gooey stuff in science fiction movies that oozes

into your home and then quietly and stealthily ends up choking out everything.

[keopeli]

18. What I miss the most is Democracy, or the practice of Freedom.

If this were a matter of some freedoms being lost, I think our current situation would be more tolerable.

We no longer have a functioning Democracy, which means none of our "freedoms" are truly being observed. You could offend the government at any moment, be whisked away by the Feds without recourse or rights, and the world around you would never know. A scenario would be setup to deceive your relatives into thinking an accident had happened.

The Feds know everything you type, what you spend your money on, where you go each day, who your extended family and friends are, your entire financial history, where you have traveled in the world, and probably a lot more.

And what recourse do any of us have against the loss of liberty? Elections have been manipulated electronically now for years, and it may be happening right where you live - it doesn't have to be Florida or Ohio. Politicians serve the wealthy corporate class, not the population. If you need evidence of this beyond Tom Delay's shenanigans, consider that over the past 6 years, our government has gone into serious financial crises while the business community is making record profits - RECORD PROFITS. Usually, when companies make record profits, our government flourishes because of the increase in revenues. Why not this time?

Because we no longer live in a Democracy. Therefore, not one single right is genuinely secure. If we just had the Democracy part of our government back, we could fix these problems one by one.

What I miss the most is the ability to practice Democracy.

[efhmc]

21. Not sure if we mean the same thing but what I think you mean is the

wonderfully safe, lovely feeling of knowing that ones vote count, that I can go to the library and check out anything I want and no one knows or cares, that I can write a letter to my congressperson complaining about whatever and that I might be considered a crank but I am not considered a security risk, that I can go to a country that is considered risky and helps those that are in need there and be considered "eccentric or odd" but not be considered to be a risk to my country, that I can write this and other things on DU that attack and revile bush and his evil empire and still be considered okay to travel. Well you get what I am saying, I am sure.

[keopeli]

28. What I mean by missing "Democracy" is...

All of what you wrote is absolutely true. I miss that feeling of freedom to be myself without fear.

The reason that I once felt safe as you described is because I was confident that these freedoms would be enforced. I've always known there were people who would be very unhappy if they knew certain things about me, and there are others who want to impose their will on me. But, I never believed those people would gain power because I believed in our elections. I believed that our elections were free and our Representatives were, to a serviceable degree, honest.

Once the election system broke down, representatives no longer had to bend to the will of the people. At that time, our Democracy died, and those feeling you described have not re-appeared since, because I have no confidence there is a system to protect them - any of them.

So, it is Democracy itself, a functioning system of governance to which we all have access and are represented, that I miss the most.

Thanks for the exchange!

peace

[rustydog]

19. The freedom to assemble and petition.

[efhmc]

24. That is one that most do not know that has been stolen but those little

"safety" zones have chipped away at that freedom On second thought chipped is too delicate a word, chiseled is more like it.

[dysfunctional press]

25. i loathe the very idea of "free speech zones"...

and the fact that the press hasn't exposed/decried it for the foul practice that it is.

so- i'd say the loss of free speech and a free and responsible press.

[efhmc]

27. We live with a government that hates people and the idea of the

people having a say and that to me means the end of democracy.

[Brigid]

29. The right to have a dissenting opinion listened to.

Sure, they can't stop us from speaking out, but they set up free-speech pens and either laugh at our ideas or steal them. There was a time when the presence of a diversity of opinion was considered a good thing in this country.

[beltanefauve]

30. "Preventative" Arrest

As if "protest pens" and "free speech" zones weren't enough (Remember when AMERICA was a free speech zone?) you can be detained without breaking a single law, just like the old Soviet Union. I have personal experience with this, having been netted at the Republican National Convention. I believe it was simply because they didn't want the sheer numbers of dissenters appearing on camera. And we've all heard the stories of people who wear the "wrong" t-shirts or have the "wrong" bumper stickers on their cars, while * is around.

[OneBlueSky]

31. the loss I fear most is freedom of speech . . .

and with it the ability to commiunicate freely on the net . . .

if we lose freedom of speech, nothing else will matter . . .

[rucky]

32. Due Process. n/t

[B Calm]

33. The right to vote and to have your vote counted.

[Eugene]

34. The rule of law.

The Bush administration insists that the President is above the law and that people
it doesn't like don't deserve the protection of law.

If the CIA can "disappear" people and keep them in secret prisons, are death squads the next step?
When a U.S. citizen can be arrested and declared an "enemy combatant" based on information obtained
through torture, is anyone safe?