[Zeebadee]

Government isn't about maintaining freedom, government is ONLY concerned with limiting freedom. Every law, every regulation, every department and agency of the federal government is designed solely to limit freedom. Since government doesn't ever create anything, everything it gives, donates, or legislates TO one group must be taken FROM another group, in addition to the costs of maintaining it's own existence. The government is aided in their efforts to limit freedom by the morons that willingly cede their rights in return for some vague promise of "security". The Patriot Act is a prime example. By promising to only be used to improve our "security", the government is infringing on our individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The morons that support such infringement because they "have nothing to hide, therefore it's ok" fail to recognize that the day will eventually come when some new regulation is issued that they DO have something to hide from. Unfortunately, by then they won't have the means to resist available anymore. We used to be the country that had the most freedom, but those days are long gone. We've sat back and watched as the government has slowly negated the Bill of Rights.

The Bush groupies love to quote the old line, "Freedom isn't free" to rationalize the current military casualties in Iraq. What "Freedom isn't free" really means though, is that if we truly want a free and open society, occasional events like 9/11 are inevitable. The current terrorist threats to freedom don't have to succeed on their own merit if we voluntarily accomplish the same thing by legislatively abolishing the Constitution this country was founded upon.