We have long discussed the erosion of civil liberties in the United States, including the attacks on privacy and other rights by the Obama Administration. It appears that we are not alone in those concerns. A new Gallup poll shows a record drop in the satisfaction of Americans over their freedoms. The massive drop is matched in such countries as Egypt, Pakistan, and Venezuela.
Seventy-nine percent of US residents are satisfied with their level of freedom. That is down from 91 percent in 2006 — a 12 point drop. We were once the highest country in the world on such polls. We have now dropped to 36th place.
That mirrors other studies showing the United States dropping to the same low levels on press freedoms, Internet speech, and other rights.
The White House has been adept in deflecting such criticism with a host of commentators and bloggers who deflect criticism with references to Republicans and the “red menace” or “things could be worse” spin or simply change the subject. However, the expansion of the internal security network in the United States and police powers is obviously having an impact on how Americans now view their rights. Years ago, I wrote a column entitled “10 Reasons Why The United States Is No Longer The Land of The Free.” Things have only grown worse since that column ran. The Obama Administration’s recent effort to strip citizens of privacy protections over their cellphones and records illustrates the extremism of some of these positions. That argument failed to secure a single vote on the Supreme Court for the Administration’s effort to blow a hole in American privacy protections.
The poll on the eve of the Fourth of July captures the dire condition of American civil liberties today. As I wrote years ago, Obama has been a disaster for the American civil liberties movement and the damage done under his tenure will be felt for decades. What is most distressing is that citizens see the decline but feel virtually powerless to do anything about it due to the duopoly of power in this country. Even with universal calls for change, the two parties are again recycling many of the same figures and same policies as prior years. Polls of this kind show a deep sense of dissatisfaction among Americans but also a complete lack of expression of those views through political channels. That is a dangerous situation for any political system when such widespread feelings are left unexpressed and unvented in politics. The political system seems to be operating in an increasingly unconnected and unresponsive fashion vis-a-vis the public at large. There is a sense among many that I speak to that there is a ruling elite and a vast body of the ruled — a modern equivalent to the helot class of ancient Sparta.
I am still amazed that we have come to this point of rapidly declining feelings of freedom and widespread dissociation with our political system. It is not the failure of our constitutional system and only partially the failure of our leaders. It is largely a failure in ourselves that we have become such grumbling drones — powerless, passive, and frankly a bit pathetic. Our government is openly trying to strip away core privacy protections and increase police powers at every level. Yet, we have fallen victim to the “blue state” and “red state” mentality — allowing politicians to constantly deflect criticism by referring to the other side as the greater evil. The result is predictable and, as with this poll, incredibly depressing.
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blogroll.
Saucy, I am Nick Spinelli, not Jim, John or anyone else. Your response was nonresponsive.
Nick wrote “trying to go back 50 years shows you do not understand that history is a continuum”
That is truly amusing considering the comments from Jim22, John, and others about how we should return to a strict interpretation of the Constitution before Marbury v. Madison in 1803. Not to mention the many comments from you and other libertarians about how taxes are too high, clearly pining for the good old days of the 1800s if not the 1700s.
Saucy, Randyjet knows it all. Didn’t you get the memo?
@randyjet
At first I could not understand your point of view. Now I get it: you are a Bolshevik. You probably obtain most of your news from RT. You are just like the many ignorant right-wing nationalists in Russia, comparable to left-wingers here.
“You also did not advance any rational reason for Finland to join NATO when they did not need to join during the Cold War”
Finland did not join NATO because it feared that Russia would do the exact same thing it did in 1939, i.e. invade. I remember seeing National Geographic photos of Finnish fighters escorting Russian bombers away from Finnish territory. And probably most importantly, Finns are an independent people.
You must be dense to not understand that Crimea is the same as Finland with respect to Russian expansion. Both were previously part of the Russian Empire. Crimea was formally part of the Ottoman Empire and Finland was formally part of Sweden. Both countries were stolen by Russia around 1800. Both were lost by Russia in the 1900s. Russian nationalists want to return to the larger empire, so both countries are at risk. The only difference is that Crimea, like the Baltic States, was a part of the Soviet Union, and Soviet leaders actively promoted the migration of Russians to Soviet republics. That’s why Latvia today is around 40% Russian.
And speaking of losers, I really love to point out to Bolsheviks that Finns kicked the Soviet’s can for around six months. Tiny Finland prevented the Soviet bear from invading until spring when the ground solidified, allowing the Soviets to use massive numbers of tanks. Officially the casualty ratio was ten to one — Soviets were the ten, of course — but Khrushchev stated in his memoirs that the Soviets may have lost as many as one million casualties.
And one more thing. There is good evidence that Hitler watched how pathetic the Soviet military was in Finland and decided to invade based on it. “We only need to kick in the front door and the whole rotten edifice will come tumbling down,” said Adolf Hitler.
“FACT that Poland started that war under the dictator Pilsudski”
Why do you constantly capitalize that word as if you were writing propaganda? Oops, I answered that in my question.
Yes, Piłsudski pushed the borders, but that was part of the big civil war that started after the fall of the Russian Empire. Countries were trying to settle old scores and establish historically-based boundaries. You forgot to mention the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919 which was a good example of that. The Polish-Czechoslovak War of 1919 is another example. Even today, Poles and Czechs makes jokes about each other.
The Russians/Soviets could not fight their way out of a paper bag until Zhukov was allowed to take over.
“Austria got its independence back because they had a large Social Democratic party and they agreed to remain neutral and NOT join NATO.”
Austria was as Nazi as Germany, only it was never official. It pretended to be taken over via the Anschluss — a word used today for “connection in a travel context. After WWII, it pretended to be the victim and the naive Soviets swallowed it. Austrians fiercely fought against communism and never voted for it. Stalin’s death removed the guilt caused by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and so Austria was allowed to leave.
“You also flunk military history when you say Britain and France could not do anything to help Poland when Hitler invaded”
I was actually referring to the U.S., but I can see how you got that impression. That history is well known.
You never looked up Erika Steinbach, did you?
Der Spiegel (www.spiegel.de/international/):
– “‘A Bad Character’: Expellee Leader Steinbach Insults Veteran Polish Politician”
– “Germany’s Expellee Museum: Charges of Historical Revisionism Stir Up Berlin”
– “German-Polish Relations: ‘Respect for Poland Hasn’t Always Been Germany’s Strong Suit'”
– “Documentation Center Debate: ‘Expellees Paid a Higher Price for Crimes of Third Reich'”
– “Erika Steinbach and German Victims of WWII: ‘I Want the Truth, and Nothing But'”
– “German Expellees Controversy: Steinbach Eschews Post on Museum Board”
P.S. I do not obtain all of my information from books like so many Americans who pine for the “good old days” of war. I have spoken with the locals in all of the above countries. You should try it sometime.
Saucy, I finally get your point of view since you must be Polish which would explain a lot. At least you provide humor in your selective history of the area. I really enjoyed you telling folks that yes Pilsudski DID push the borders a bit. Of course, you fail to tell folks he went all the way to Kiev which had been part of the ancient kingdom of Poland and he was seeking to restore the Polish empire of yore. That is not just a little incursion by the way. I guess you could say that Hitler just wanted a little Lebensraum too, so it should not have been seen as a big deal that he invaded Poland to restore what had been German territory. Of course, as most folks of your stripe, you think YOUR sides aggression and attacks, thefts, and other crimes are GOOD. Thank you for at least acknowledging the fact that the Poles DID start the war. Once again, you refuse to acknowledge the fact, that Poland JOINED Hitler in grabbing a slice of Czechoslovakia when he grabbed what was left after Munich. Typical Polish apologist for aggression and anti-Semitism.
I guess folks might think that putting US troops on the Russian borders might not be a provocation, unless they also knew that the Soviet Union had been invaded by the US before. Most reasonable people would understand that the Russians might be a bit leery of having that happen, especially when the Russian leaders grandfathers were killing invading US troops back in the 1918-20. Why would any reasonable person think that US troops and NATO are not a threat? In fact, it is the US, Britain, France, the leaders of NATO who invaded RUSSIA. So given your endorsement of aggression against Russia, and your extreme nationalism that is the REAL threat. Then to say that Finland and the Crimea are the same is absurd on its face. How many Finns speak Russian as their first language or wish to join Russia? The figures on the Crimea and most of eastern Ukraine are totally different than Finland. Those areas are ethnically Russian in large majority. The only person who thinks the Russians want to take Finland is You and those who want endless wars. There is no legitimate fear or reason for Finland to join NATO. In fact, I would like to know what the rational for NATO to exist at all is. One could make a case during the Cold war perhaps, but now?
I had to laugh again when you think that spring is the time of year in which the ground solidifies in those parts. I did not know the freeze point of water was so elevated there. So much for your military expertise.
So what about a Steinbach? Who cares other than those looking for an excuse to fan hatred. Now if the German government or a leading figure of it decides to say something about restoring formerly German lands, THEN I will take notice. Think we need to worry about the KKK today as a major force in US politics? I recall that when I travelled around West Germany in 1967, the railroad cars had a map of pre-war Germany on the wall. The places that were now occupied by Poland, Russia, Czechoslovakia, and it said, Zur Zeit unterfremder vervaltung. That one really drove the Poles and Soviets wild. I went back many times, and those maps are ALL GONE NOW. By having those maps, one could say they were evidence of US and West German drives to invade those territories and restore the German empire. THAT had government sanction, and thus was of FAR more import than some nuts.
As long as we are talking about such nasty things, I have noted that Hungary, Ukraine, and Poland are seeing a resurgent anti-Semitism, especially in Hungary. So it is good to see that NATO is protecting fascists once again. Think the rest of the US population wants to support such regimes? That is what NATO is doing. Think that we need to endorse a revanchist political movement and support it with out troops and weapons? Think that Russia might indeed have some legitimate concerns about the fate of ethnic Russian in the parts of the old Soviet Union? The Turks sure thought so when they invaded Cyprus and went to war with fellow NATO member Greece. NATO could not even keep the peace within NATO, so what use is it? Except to support fanatic nuts who hate Russians as part of their ethnic background.
randyjet – anti-Semitism in Poland was not a problem until the Partition and even then it was highest is the Russian sections of the Partition. The part of Czechoslovakia that Poland took had actually been taken from them about 20 years before. Russia had Allied troops to back the White until 1920. There were some 5000 American troops there.
The only rationale I need for NATO to exist is to know that Putin is alive and well. When the Cold War ended, the Marxist just changed to new organizations to run things, much like ACORN. Just put a new name on an old product. Putin has not forgotten the glory days when he was a KGB officer in East Germany. He would love to have the old Soviet empire back.
Paul, I retrieved your comment at 7:51.
Darren – thanks, you are a god among men. 🙂
Saucy, There is a fundamental flaw in your reasoning as you wax nostalgic for the 1960’s. We must understand and respect history, but trying to go back 50 years shows you do not understand that history is a continuum. The genie is out of the bottle in technology, trade, communication, etc.. The way our culture has changed in these 50 years is probably the most profound in the history of humans. Some of the change is good, some bad. But, there ain’t no going back, dude. Time marches on.
traveling limey,
Several years ago, John Perkins was interviewed on All Things Considered, the NPR afternoon news magazine program. He is the author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
The book is a must-read for anyone who is curious about how big money people and the IMF keep smaller countries under control by what amounts to international loan sharking. Using loan shark techniques comparable to anything the Mafia would use, but on a vastly larger scale. You can buy the book from all the usual suspects, but also from the publisher, and can get a DVD. See the link below:
http://www.economichitman.com/
Positive Freedom Killed Negative Freedom
The situation with Russia is they are outside the IMF and Illuminati. They will survive much better without the IMF. Lybia was crushed because it was doing well without the IMF. But the terrorist nations of USA and Israel will not dare attack Russia. With us its just our government, not the people but the people need to wake up a lot quicker.
Okay. More Americans are begining to wake up a tiny bit? It would be odd if they didn’t notice at all.
Chuck,
When I was in college, if you weren’t wearing underwear you were “going commando”. I guess it was a spin off from the Scots!! 🙂
Chuck,
If we’re on the internet…
(I guess we’re all guilty by association somehow, by the NSA)
… We’re no longer allowed to freely associate without suspicion.