International, Politics, Society

Let Civil Liberties & Freedom Ring!

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

In his speech Restoring British Liberties (dated January 7, 2011), Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg talked about the freedom and the “hard-won liberties” that people in Britain have held dear. He talked about the standards of a nation that have been the hallmarks of a civilized society to which people who are victims of oppression in other places around the world have looked to as a beacon of hope…as an example of a better way of life.

Clegg claimed that in recent times under Labour many of Britain’s best traditions have suffered—and that many of its civil liberties “have been undermined, eroded, lost.”

Clegg said:

They[Labour] turned Britain into a place where schools can fingerprint your children without their parents’ consent. Where councils use surveillance powers designed to tackle crime to check if you’re cleaning up after your dog. Where thousands of new criminal offences have amassed on to the statute book. Where you are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police if you are black or Asian. Where, in one year, we saw over 100,000 terror-related stop-and-searches, none of which yielded a single terror arrest.

They made Britain a place where you could be put under virtual house arrest when there was not enough evidence to charge you with a crime. And with barely an explanation of the allegations against you. A place where young, innocent children caught up in the immigration system were placed behind bars. A Britain whose international reputation has been brought into question because of our alleged complicity in torture.

That record is an affront to everything we stand for.

It has created a fundamental imbalance between British citizens and the British state; disempowering individuals, criminalising innocent people, fuelling mistrust between communities, and diminishing this nation’s moral authority too.

Clegg went on to enumerate the ways in which the Coalition Government would address the problems in 2011, which included the following:
Three: by ending the practices of closed and secretive government; giving people the information and freedom they need to hold us and other institutions to account.

Does any of what Clegg said ring familiar to you? Do you believe that some of our civil liberties have been undermined and eroded in this country—especially over the past decade? Do you think that we Americans need to be ever vigilant about the loss of our “hard-won” freedoms? Do you think that “we the people” should have the freedom and information that we need to hold our political leaders and government institutions to account?

Source: Liberal Democrats

162 thoughts on “Let Civil Liberties & Freedom Ring!”

  1. Buckeye,

    Did Mr. Olbermann say anything untrue about people on the right inciting violence in his show? Don’t you think that there is a qualitative or quantitative difference in the volume and intensity of violent rhetoric on the left vs. the right? Mr. Schultz and Mr. Olbermann are hyperbolic buffoons (and both are guilty of demonizing the opposition from time to time), but they are not even close to the hate and fear mongers on the right who spend nearly all of their time demonizing their opponents and every position they take.

    “All politicians are in danger now. No one should contribute to it.”

    Even more, I think that everyone (on both sides) needs to condemn it loudly and unequivocally – and refrain from using violent or inflammatory rhetoric in the future (and anyone who continues to use such rhetoric should be called on it).

  3. Well he’s probably no more nuts than any Tea Party denizen, but his rhetoric is certainly incindiary.

  4. I’ll have to take your word Schultz is nuts. I’ve never watched his show.

  5. Bush is a confessed but unprosecuted war criminal and traitor, Buckeye. As is Cheney.

    Don’t hold your breath on that one.

  6. BIL

    BIL

    Any heat the Right catches over inciting this is well earned.

    ————————————————-

    True. We should be hesitant about adding to it via Schultz and some of the other crazies on the left.

    All politicians are in danger now. No one should contribute to it.

  7. Slarti

    Yes, after spending part of the previous two hours reiterating his view about how the “right” is to blame for this, he said exactly what I’ve been saying, but much more incisively.

    My comment was written in the middle of his show before his special comment.

    There’s no doubt the Tea Party has a vicious element just as there was no doubt the Black Panthers of the 60’s did. We used to walk quietly around them when they gathered in the halls of the community college I attended. That doesn’t mean Rev. King’s troops were the same as they. Just as it doesn’t mean the Republican leadership is the same as the Tea Party.

    Boehner and McConnell have both given statements condemning the violence. We see how they were received here – not well. This may be a chance for them to pull the claws of the Tea Party and Ms. Palin, so some good may come of such a ghastly occurrance.

    I doubt Rush or Glen will be much moved, except to treat us to crocodile tears and point out all the left’s rhetoric about Bush, but maybe even they will be somewhat muted – at least for a while.

  8. Interesting is one way to put it, Slarti.

    Although I’m thinking with what I know of Rush & Co., “revelatory” might be a better adjective.

  10. kay,

    Do you ever think about anything or anyone other than yourself?

    Seriously, given the turn in topic here?

    You should really consider shutting up about your personal problem on this thread.

    It’s tiresome and no body here cares about the same old shit you’ve been peddling for months.

  11. I was on “virtual house arrest when there was not enough evidence” to try me for a crime when I had the misfortune to live in Steamboat Springs CO. A police report said
    ““Kay kept yelling that her husband just can’t break the law because he’s council president.” “Kay called her husband an asshole.” “Kay kept shouting phrases you’re breaking the law, obey the constitution and you can’t build that thing.” “Matt said she yelled something about violating building codes and the U.S. Constitution”.

    The woman who violated the zoning, Jane Bennett, filed a criminal summons and complaint as if she was a police officer. She could do that because the police reported to her husband Kevin Bennett, a convicted drug dealer. Based on that she got a restraining order on me. Then she watched and waited for me and anytime she saw me she called the police to say that she was able to get near me so therefore they should arrest me.

    This led to my being imprisoned by the feds for 5 months without a criminal charge, arraignment or bail hearing. So Britain doesn’t sound any worse.

  12. Buckeye,

    I think people who do despicable things should be called out. A rat is a rat–not a mouse. Can you demonize a demon? For example, think about Dick Cheney.

    And what Buddha said: “When the truth is incendiary and demonic, then there is the burn, Buckeye.”

  13. “I’m simply stating that all use overblown rhetoric to make their ideologic point.”

    But only the Right has been intimating violence consistently and persistently, Buckeye.

    Like it or not, they’ve got blood on their hands.

  14. Elaine M.

    I wouldn’t compare the “rhetoric” of Schultz and Olbermann to that of people like Limbaugh and Beck who are real fear-mongers–and often purveyors of misinformation.

    ——————————————

    I’m not comparing, I’m simply stating that all use overblown rhetoric to make their ideologic point. And all need to be more careful and quit demonizing those who have a different ideology.

    If they aren’t smart enough to be able to do that, they shouldn’t be given much credence.

  15. I’ve got to third Blouise.

    The truth is often brutal, ugly and unpleasant.

    But it is the truth.

    And I’ve quoted Rorschach before, but I’ll do it again in paraphrase . . .

    “You see, Doctor, God didn’t kill that little girl. Fate didn’t butcher her and destiny didn’t [shoot her]. If God saw what any of us did [this day] he didn’t seem to mind. From [now] on I knew… God doesn’t make the world this way. We do.”

  16. Blouise

    Yes, it’s those slippery facts. Choosing which facts to use and which to ignore – and how much weight to give to each fact (some are more important than others) and when to extrapolate one fact from another fact is what becomes “truth” in the eye of the beholder.

  17. “Truth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.” (Buckeye)

    “In my book truth is fact … and it is often not at all beautiful.” (Blouise)

    I’m with Blouise.

    Some people choose to perceive information through an ideologic lens–and, therefore, they don’t “see” the truth.

    I wouldn’t compare the “rhetoric” of Schultz and Olbermann to that of people like Limbaugh and Beck who are real fear-mongers–and often purveyors of misinformation.

  18. “It’s not necessary to demonize or misrepresent or misconstrue another person’s position to have a healthy discussion.”

    It’s also not necessary to misrepresent or misconstrue the Right’s position to demonize it.

    Just repeat it.

    When the truth is incendiary and demonic, then there is the burn, Buckeye.

    And you reap what you sow.

    The Right has been intimating violence for years now.

    They should be held accountable.

    And when I say the Right, I don’t mean traditional conservatives like FFLEO either.

    I mean the Neocon hate merchants and slaves to special interest (although this second group has members in from both parties) who sold out the best interests of their constituents for corporate graft and created the climate in which a thing such as this becomes likely if not inevitable as the quality of life declines for the majority.

    Anyone with half a brain knows exactly who I’m talking about too. The Limbaughs and the Hannitys and the Murdochs and all the pols like McConnell and King that dance to their dance of hate, division, elitist marginalization of and thievery from the middle class and the poor.

    And you have far more than half a brain, Buckeye.

    Any heat the Right catches over inciting this is well earned.

    It’s a price now paid in the blood of innocents and players alike.

  19. Swarthmore mom,

    Grijalva has not “targeted” anyone specifically He is a despiteful, hateful little man who causes a lot trouble along the AZ border with Mexico–his district. I voted for him until 2010.

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