Since 9/11, the patriotism bandwagon has been overflowing with flowery words and promises. One of the more interesting post-9/11 changes is the use of the word Freedom (capital F). Freedom is declared as our purpose (and our lunch). Whenever there’s a gaping hole in the dam of neoconservative thought and/or action, it gets plugged full of Freedom. Freedom for Iraq, Freedom for Afghanistan, but more importantly, Freedom for Americans. Freedom Freedom Freedom. It is a perfect catch phrase for the Bush Administration, and they have done a marvelous job of trademarking the term, while at the same time restricting or even stomping on the civil rights of citizens in the US and abroad.
But it is all justified by Freedom. In order to be Free, you must accept a few minor injustices and maybe lose a little bit of freedom (small f). That’s some catch, that catch-22.
Michael Moore! The great opponent of Freedom. While Moore and his techniques may be highly suspect, his message is fairly clear. His semi-truths mirror the Bush Administration’s semi-truths. The question is, which are more damaging? How dare he speak ill about the Bush family! They are our great leaders to Freedom from Terrorism (capital T).
What gives Americans the right to Freedom, but also the right to deny Freedom to others?
What does neo-con Freedom actually mean? Safety? Security? Stability? More control against subversive elements, especially those overseas, who aren’t covered by our generous but troublesome Constitution?
So, Freedom comes from Safety. Security. We can only be Free if the Bush Administration protects us from the evil Terrorists (capital T).
But Lo! We are now in the year 2005. Most of us have adjusted to having Freedom slapped in front of everything from oily potato strips to proposed laws. Freedom has been enforced by introducing anarchy to two countries, though there were pretty explosions that looked pretty cool on CNN. Having now achieved such a height of Freedom that we have alienated our long-standing allies and sunk to the level of our long-contested foes (invading other countries and taking political prisoners with no trial or evidence would have been something we would have said the Soviet Union or China was doing a mere 15 years ago… now it is something that has become a cornerstone of American policy).
Even at home, we are asked to protect Freedom by a constitutional ammendment to limit marriage to the good ol’ Christian standard.
It sounds to me like Freedom has been stolen. Freedom now means a life of short-sighted international and domestic policy that fits the neo-conservative Christian way of thinking. Foreign policy is whittled down to, “our way, or we bomb you and overthrow your administration.” That is the Freedom that is being protected. The freedom (small f) of everyone else does not matter - only Freedom for good, upstanding, morally straight Americans.
Freedom has been hijacked by Terrorists, and they sit in the highest seats of power.
Never before has it been more true that one American life is worth a few thousand foreign lives. To our Administration, foreigners don’t have rights. They are killable, arrestable, detainable, torturable, and lord knows what else -able to protect Freedom.
This is the rhetoric we expect from regimes like Stalin, yet the public sits idly by waving little American flags and slapping “Support our troops” magnets on cars. Most don’t give a second thought to what those troops are doing - or why.