"WE'RE FOR FREEDOM"

The Republicans, and conservatives generally, like to boast that they're the ones who are in favor of human freedom while liberals want to enslave us with bureaucracy and endless regulations. That the regulations and bureaucracy are necessary to keep us alive and FREE doesn't register with them.

"Freedom" is always the issue. Note that the righties' youth wing is called Young Americans for Freedom.

When it comes down to cases, especially the most telling cases, conservatives always seem to be against the freedom of the American people. Some examples:

>Say you're a woman and you're pregnant and you'd like to decide for yourself whether to carry the fetus to term or have an abortion. The conservatives, being for freedom, are going to support you in that, right? Hell, no! Decide for abortion and they want to put you and your doctor in prison. They're for the government's freedom to tell you what you can do with the contents of your own body.

>Say you're a kid who is upset with how things are going in this country and you register your protest graphically by setting fire to an American flag. The conservatives, being for freedom, are going to support you in that, right? As the Supreme Court has said, it's nothing but Constitutionally protected free speech, the most basic of basics. But no! Again they want to lock you up in this free country. They favor the government's freedom to protect the flag against those pesky rights and liberties that it stands for.

>Say you're gay and you'd like to be free to marry your own kind, like anybody else. The conservatives, being for freedom, are going to support you in that, right? Afraid not! They're supporting their own freedom to make you into a second-class citizen.

>Where "right to work" laws exist, they give your employer the freedom to fire you for exercising your freedom to join a union. But the conservatives, being for freedom, are going to support you in that, right? You know better!

>Say you take that right-to-work phrase at face value and think you should be able to have a job. So you don't want business corporations exporting your work opportunities, and you push for fair trade. The conservatives, being for freedom, are going to support you in that, right? Fat chance! They're for the freedom of the corporations to do what is in their interest, to your cost, while getting tax breaks at your expense.

>Say you lack health insurance and want government intervention to make it possible and to free you from being crushed by arbitrary, self-interested decisions of Big Pharma and Big Insurance. The conservatives, being for freedom, are going to support you in that, right? Not bloody likely! They want freedom for the gouger, not for the gougee.

How can conservatives be for your freedom, if they are for the freedom to make you unfree?

And how do they get away with this, anyhow? If you insist on having a country where you can live free, it looks like you're going to have to fight them to get it.

Happily, in this country you are still free to do that.