During the height of the war in Iraq, a teacher in Oxford County asked her students what they believed was the cause of the war.

Fighting for our freedoms, most of them responded.

And what freedoms are those, the teacher asked.

The freedom to buy whatever we want, one child responded.

For that boy, freedom is shopping.

Every citizen asked to define freedom would answer the question differently, but there is no denying this is a country of great independence. Regrettably, once inalienable liberties are being constricted by the very administration hinged on patriotic pride and world freedom.

The Constitution was amended in 1791 to incorporate the Bill of Rights, 10 guarantees requested by the people to temper federal rule. These guarantees have served us well, and our rising national hysteria about homeland security and suspicious citizenry must not eclipse these protections.

Let us consider our First Amendment guarantee and, we suggest, our most important freedom: the right to speak freely. We are certainly free to think what we like, and most of us are permitted to speak freely. That is, unless we object to a male-only golf course or protest aggression overseas.

Augusta Country Club is within bounds to restrict membership. It’s a private club. But, when Martha Burk and others made it known they would object to club policies, they were restricted by law enforcement to a site far removed from the course. They could still speak, but not really be heard.

And, for many months, some war supporters have strongly and not-so-politely suggested war protesters should just shut up already. That their views injure national spirit and pride and are unsupportive of beloved military personnel. While government did not frequently interfere with protesters, citizens did. And that defies the spirit of our guarantee to free speech.

In both cases, constitutionally protected protests came under attack while we were at war, while soldiers, sailors and Marines were ordered to the task of protecting freedom.

Here’s a different example.

We have the right, under the Fourth Amendment, to fair judicial proceedings and are protected from wrongful incarceration. Most of the time these guarantees are honored, unless we fall under suspicion as terrorists. Then, government asserts its right to arrest and detain for long periods of time, even if formal charges aren’t levied, as we’ve seen at Guantanamo Bay. Congress permits this kind of destructive secrecy under the Patriot Act and intends to stretch that authority in the coming months.

We are in a battle now between open, accountable government and national security.

For many servicemen and women this Memorial Day, the frustration must be overwhelming.

They were and are, most believe, in service to protect freedoms at great sacrifice to themselves. It is offensive, then, for government to slowly pick away at those freedoms and diminish the import of our Constitution.

This Memorial Day, as we honor those who have fought to maintain our freedoms over these many years, we must reignite real patriotism -understanding and protecting our constitutional foundation.


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