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Senate Votes Against Free Speech

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Over the past six years, Bush's enablers in Congress have been slowly eroding our Constitutional rights and liberties. But, until now, it was always somewhat masked in fear-inducing terror-related rhetoric. Their latest stunt, however, is masked much more transparently. Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution condemning the organization MoveOn.org for criticizing General Petraeus for blindly and obediently propagating Bush's failed Iraq war strategy. In other words, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution against freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. In other words, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution against the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 72 senators voted in favor of this resolution! Freedom to dissent is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. In fact, true democracy cannot exist without it, because an informed electorate must have an understanding of the various sides of an issue. President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, once said, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." And that applies, by extension, to criticism of those who carry out the president's misguided policies. But now 72 senators, representing both political parties, are telling us that we must shut up and not criticize Bush's Iraq policy or those who implement that policy, lest they condemn us too. Do they not realize what they've done? Or do they? The latter would be even scarier. >> See how your senators voted. -----
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Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International, and her views (more...)
 
Related Topic(s): Constitution In Crisis; Constitutional Rights; First Amendment Speech; Foreign Policy Failure Iraq; Freedom; Freedoms; General Petraeus; Senate; Senate Legislative Failures, Add Tags
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