THE FREEDOM TO DISSENT, IS OBAMA TRYING TO KILL IT - THE SUNDAY COMMENTARY

Since taking office, Barack Obama has taken many actions which are in stark disagreement with a great deal of Americans. From economic to moral issues Obama has given executive orders and/or lobbied for and seen passed legislation that has created deficits that have surpassed every administration in our history and there is no end in sight.

In speeches he has created gloom and doom scenarios which compound the fear that is already permeating in the country. And his reasoning in creating this fear is to scare Americans into supporting his ideas, his plans and his spending. When the least amount of questioning begins to appear, Obama or his staffers change the direction of the conversation.

That change of direction in itself is cause for great concern when is comes to one of our greatest and sometimes most misunderstood freedoms. The freedom of speech which is not only one of our first freedoms as written in the Bill of Rights, but it is also one of our most fundamental and important freedoms which makes this country stand above all others in history.

Many liberals when faced with the accusation that Barack Obama's agenda is socialist in nature and his actions are threatening our freedom always ask, "what freedoms are threatened ?" My answer for one is the freedom of speech.

Whenever any disagreement with Obama's agenda , his spending, his executive orders, his rhetoric is expressed, those in disagreement are considered, "unpatriotic, un-American," or, "wanting the country to fail." Especially when stating that one does not want the country to fail but the agenda of the President, those with this opposing view to Obama are crucified as hate mongers who want America to fail.

Opposing a Presidents or any other politicians agenda or plan is one of the most basic freedoms that has been present in this country since its birth. But opposing Obama's agenda is considered by his supporters and the media as wanting the country to fail and as such un-American.

A great deal of this has to do with the hype that surrounds Obama. Most who support him and especially those who have supported him blindly without knowing anything about his radical past or researched what little there has been to find about him, believe that he can do no wrong and have an almost worshipful mentality toward Obama.

But there is also an equal problem that once again exposes itself when one speaks out against Obama's agenda and is labeled as one who wants the country to fail. The recent flak concerning Rush Limbaugh highlights this and also exposes the danger accompanied with the accusation of wanting the country to fail if one does not support Obama.

There seems to be a concentrated effort within the administration and many within the media to quell all dissent when it concerns Obama and his agenda by smearing dissenters with the stigma of wanting the country to fail. The freedom to dissent our government is one of our most cherished and basic freedoms of speech, yet when it is used against Obama a stigma of hate and un-Americanism is hung around the neck of the dissenter.

Freedom of speech as defined by our Founders is NOT the freedom to place a crucifix in a jar of urine and claim free speech rights. Our Founders considered free speech a much more cherished freedom than just the freedom of artistic expression regardless of how tasteless that expression is.

True freedom of speech as defined by our Founders is the basic right to dissent with our government without the fear of recrimination, labels or legal action because of that dissent. Before we became a Nation and were still colonies subject to British rule, whenever there was dissent within the Colonies against the policy of the Crown or the oppressive laws handed down by the Parliament on behalf of the Crown, Colonists were threatened with arrest, military intervention and confiscation of property. In fact each of these threats were actually carried out during the fledgling years before Independence was declared and during the Revolution.

As such when the Framers of the Constitution began compiling the form of government and establishing the freedoms which would exist by law as a result of that government the freedom of dissent with that government was the foremost reason for the inclusion of freedom of speech in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

The freedom to dissent without fear of being arrested, legal ramifications or being labeled by anyone because of that dissent. While there have been no threats of arrest or legalities yet concerning the disagreement with Obama's agenda the labels have begun and I ask you is the rest soon to follow ? Will being considered wanting the country to fail because we disagree with the President, soon become more than just an un-American label though legislation that takes the,"Fairness Doctrine," to the next level ?

There are some within Congress on the left who are already hinting at this by disguising the fairness doctrine with other wording since this particular legislation is so well known. Will dissension against Obama policy become the quelling of free speech, and the gradual elimination of one of our most precious and basic freedoms ?

One of the most dangerous aspects of a socialistic government is the fact that it can create, because of an all powerful and all encompassing government a tyrannical leadership which quells initiative, production and dissent of it citizenry. Is this where America is heading ? Those who support Obama scoff at we who call his agenda socialism.

Yet his increasing of government spending to unprecedented levels, government intervention and partial if not complete control over business and environmental policies that force Americans to adhere to certain, "changes," in the way that we live in order to comply with Obama's environmental policy are signs of his socialism.

Not to mention the massive expansion of the welfare state forcing a greater dependency on government creating a bureaucratic governmental slavery to citizens with lesser means at the expense of those with greater means. This is basic socialism no matter how one explains it or tries to defend it. And those who speak out against it are labeled as un-American, wanting the country to fail.

Dissension with what we as Americans believe is wrong for our country is not only very American but when we believe that policy being implemented by a President or Congress that will cause our country to fail is taking place it is our Constitutional responsibility to speak out against it with every means available to us as Americans.

Socialism is unconstitutional for America. It is dangerous to our freedoms and it is in direct contrast to the free principles and fundamentals that has sustained this country since our birth. YES, I want Obama's agenda to fail. Yes I want a free market and free speech America. Yes, I want my country to succeed, but in continuance with the sound and tested Constitutional foundation and principles we have cherished and lived by for more that 200 years.

We are a land created for the people not the government. We are a land where the people are the voice and power of the Nation not the government. We are a land where those within government are answerable and accountable to the people and not the reverse. We are a nation of freedom loving and living individuals who do not bow nor bend to an oppressive socialistic government regardless of who the President or the party in power is. And I for one will fight to keep it that way. That my friends is American!

Ken Taylor