Iron fist in a velvet glove T-Shirt

Liberty. The often misunderstood word is usually attributed to Lady Liberty, holding aloft a flame, to light the way of the tired, the poor, the immigrants, sailing to the new shore in search of...freedom. But these words are a little too concept-y for most to grasp. As in the ever shouted song of the strange redneck bird "they hate us cuz we're free!" What does that even mean? Liberty and freedom, when misused or misunderstood, give way to things like the Patriot Act, another moniker that sounds delightful, but really squashes any hope of real patriotism, whatsoever. The T word. It's so awful you cannot whisper the word for fear people, in an unmarked van, will roll up on you and toss you in for a first class, one way ticket to Gitmo. But, the word itself is not the issue. The inability to speak it or write it is. Oh, will my blog post be flagged and now my name listed somewhere, because I wrote it or god forbid, even thought it? I have opted out of the radiation scanner so many times at the airport already, I'm probably on the difficult class clown list. I promise, it's really because I just don't like radiation! But, somewhere, a secret, double secret probation list exists and I am probably already on it. Not because I actually did anything, but I do have my own patriot act. It's protecting my bodily constitution. So I prefer not to give up my constitutional liberties so you can feel more free. I don't hate you because you're free. And I am most definitely NOT a T word, homegrown or otherwise. I am just an American Pragmatist, who likes my amendments in English. Screw their doublespeak and make it plain. Take your iron fist out and give me back my velvet glove, silly boy! My liberties and my freedom go hand in hand.