SUN EDITORIAL:

Celebrate freedom

No matter our disagreements, Americans should be proud of what we have in this nation

Saturday, July 4, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

This Fourth of July, as Americans celebrate our country’s independence, we should take the time to be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy. As news events regularly demonstrate, freedom is a right that is denied to billions of people.

The recent presidential election in Iran, marked by complaints of massive fraud, has spun that country into turmoil. Taking to the streets to voice their dissent, protesters have been beaten, arrested and killed because they disagreed with their government.

The presidential election in America couldn’t be any clearer a contrast. During the campaign, there was harsh criticism of the sitting president, yet there were no crackdowns. The election went off without a hitch, and January saw the peaceful transition of power from one political party to another.

In North Korea this year, two American journalists were jailed, convicted as “spies” on trumped-up charges, refused an appeal and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. Unlike in the United States, there is no due process, no need for warrants and no protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Prisoners in North Korea essentially become slaves of the state — they have no rights and no expectation of humane treatment.

In China the Communist government keeps a tight rein on the Internet to squelch dissent. Police arrest people for their e-mails and online postings, and the government regularly blocks Web sites it doesn’t like.

In America there has been open criticism of the federal government for collecting e-mails in its anti-terrorism program without warrants, and the courts have extended First Amendment protection to the Internet.

America is far from perfect. For example, the country didn’t extend full rights to minorities and women until the 20th century. It took the sacrifices of thousands of men and women, who bravely fought for change, to guarantee those rights.

But Americans can stand up to power and seek justice. That is one of the principles embedded into the national conscience by the Founding Fathers.

Issued 233 years ago today, the Declaration of Independence states people “have certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Those rights are as important today as they were then. They should be celebrated, cherished and protected.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By mred

7/4/09 at 6:18 a.m.

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I'll go pass out handbills at the Fremont Street experience to celebrate my freedom. Will they be serving hot dogs at the county jail this Forth?
By annienonymouse

7/4/09 at 8:23 a.m.

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"Taking to the streets to voice their dissent, protesters have been beaten, arrested and killed because they disagreed with their government."

Ah, yes, shades of the Nixon years in the USA.
By jlb101

7/4/09 at 9:02 a.m.

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We better celebrate our freedom now. After four years of Obama we will have few freedoms left to celebrate.
By KillerB

7/4/09 at 10:56 a.m.

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"The presidential election in America couldn't be any clearer a contrast. During the campaign, there was harsh criticism of the sitting president, yet there were no crackdowns."

You aren't aware of Minnesota's RNC 8? A bunch of kids planning a protest against the Republican National Convention were rounded up as "domestic terrorists" based on bogus charges from a fed infiltrator.

My brother works with a man who had to flee to another country after being threatened by the feds for posting anti-Bush parodies on the internet.

The U.S. may not be Iran or North Korea, but we're definitely on our way there.
By uddeboda

7/5/09 at 2:09 a.m.

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killerB

Your posting really is upsetting. How can a country that was built on freedom of speech allow this to happen.
If one cannot post parodies of Bush on the net, then this is very serious.
I know I comment on the USA very often, but I am not using lies and untruths, so god help me if ever the Fed searched after me.
By KillerB

7/5/09 at 7:55 a.m.

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uddeboda -- easy, the people became apathetic to those freedoms our forefathers sacrificed so much for. Note the hostility when I and others raise Constitutional concerns. The recent controversy on this subject at UNLV comes to mind.

Campaign finance and hate crimes are areas where Congress has blatantly abridged those freedoms. The FCC was created to do exactly that. So far as Bush is concerned some of that is documented in an excellent white paper "Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush" a free download at http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_...

Then there is the RNC 8, some kids who were organizing a protest at the Republican National Convention. It seems slapping the label "terrorist" on anyone doing anything strips away all Constitutional protections. In this case the First Amendment. Start at http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2009/04/...

Right here in Nevada you've got a Libertarian think tank, the Nevada Policy Research Institute. I like their blog page with the heading "Freedom of appropriate speech and correct thoughts" at http://www.writeonnevada.com/2009/05/fre...

It's everywhere if one just pays attention. We are being sheared of our Constitutional protections by those who swore oaths to protect and defend them. I will not be idle opposing all such deprivations.