Freedom of expression, like the rest of the Bill of Rights, is under assault in this country.
The one-party system that runs this country has done a brilliant propaganda job at exploting the conservative-liberal divide in this country, and using it to divide and conquer. (I would argue that the *real* divison is along the lines of statist vs. individual). The powers that be have done a really effective job of implementing their statist agenda, regardless of whether a "liberal" or "conservative" is in power.
Do you have a different copy of the Constitution? Can you tell me where "freedom of expression" is written? It must be under the same heading as "separation of church and state"...
Thats very much true.. Back home, everyone I knew used to protest for ridiculous things, and I hoped the government had some control over these protests as they were "potentially" violent.. now, am glad they had those rights to protest.. after I came to US, I met some students from former soviet republics.. inspite of renouncing communism some 10/12 years ago, most of them shared a common trait, viz., they somehow seem to be very scared of speaking out against authority.. or infact, what they really think about controversial issues... apparently, thats the fallout of hailing from a communistic state - too much fear of authority and too much concern about agreeing with the majority (and thereby losing your individuality). Meeting them only convinced me that communists are the scummiest folks on the planet when it comes to suppressing FOE..
However, from what I'm seeing, they seem to have some counterparts on the right side of the political spectrum in this country. And some people seem to be glad enough to surrendering their rights to protest and disagree.
You know the joke Chinese make about freedom of expression in their country ?
A Chinese guy brags to an American guy : "You know, we also have freedom of expression in our country.. we dont have any problem with protests in our country.. we can always protest against American government in our country, just like you people do ;)"
Dont think most Americans realize how lucky they are that they still have the right to dissension. Its utterly naive of them to be parochial and blame liberals or conservatives, its just a democratic issue afterall.
regards,
So now that you have condemned our country as a one party police state, what is your answer to fix it? I know many people who talk like you, most have turned to being anarchists, most have been in trouble with the law.
To call this country a police state is a little extreeeeem don't you think? I am not saying you don't have the right to say it, but that does not make it true.
Anyway, go ahead and flame away. In a real police state you wouldn't be able to.