No offense taken, and I agree with your comments. It’s how things work today in most places.
I hope you don’t expect things to continue in that manner after Obama is elected (if he is elected). His team has already demonstrated during the campaign that they have a low tolerance for opposition and will go to extraordinary, thuggish measures to squelch it. Once he gets in power and has the legislature and courts behind him, there will be no stopping him. Inappropriate, unimaginable uses of force will become commonplace until everyone is afraid to ever speak a negative thought about him, even behind closed doors.
This used to be America, land of the free, home of the brave. Now more than half of the population thinks big brother is needed to fix things and that our country is totally messed up. They will grant him whatever power he says he needs. He will have storm troopers, rounding up the dissidents (that’s you and me). The majority will approve. His economic policies won’t work, but he will say it’s because of us. That’s why we have to be eliminated.
I don’t expect Vice President Palin to change any of those things.