So you think America is the land of the free? You think we have this Constitutional right regarding freedom of speech? Those ideas are so pre-George W. Bush! Get with the times, man.

In case you haven’t heard, and there’s a good chance you haven’t, police and other officials in Minnesota are coming down on protesters, and even journalists, with an iron fist.

Don’t get me wrong. Police have a tough job, and this isn’t an indictment on police officers in general. I know police officers who are great folks, which leads me even more to believe that this officers are simply following orders from above—possibly very high above themselves.

One of the reasons we started the New River Voice was the belief that everyone has a voice. Everyone has a right to be heard. You and I may disagree, but you have a right to tell me your opinion and I should respectfully listen.

There is little room for dissent in Bush’s America. Little room for differences of opinion. I still have to believe that Bush Corp. was as happy as could be on Sept. 11, 2001. While many of us mourned, wept, or were otherwise in shock, Bush Corp. saw a heinous terrorist act as an opportunity to seize unprecedented power and quell dissent by whatever means necessary.

The latest form of quelling dissent is taking place right now in Minnesota’s Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul where the Republican National Convention is taking place. I’ve just read that Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, one of the few journalists not afraid to speak the truth these days, was arrested in St. Paul. Don’t believe it? Watch it here!

You know that pre-emptive war Bush started? Well, apparently it set a precedent. Now, in the United States of America, land of the free, we have pre-emptive arrests prior to Republican gatherings. Numerous reports are trickling out about arrests and illegal searches and seizures of property.

Is this the kind of America in which you want to live? Let us hear your voice.

And if you like the design at the top of this blog entry, you can get it on a T-shirt in our New River Voice store. Check out our online store here! Thanks to Christian Keesee for creating that for us!

Tim W. Jackson likes freedom of speech. He will remember it fondly when it’s completely gone.