Freedom in Objects, Not Ideas and People

Today, they laid the cornerstore of the foundation for the new World Trade Center, this to be called the "Freedom Tower",clearly a great symbolic gesture this Independence Day but I was then overcome by a great sadness.

Since 9-11-2001, we have rushed to rename everything "Freedom" and "Patriot" and "Liberty". But that's just it: we name things while actual freedom and liberty and true (rather than servile) patriotism in human has been curtailed and threatened, and acted upon.

How much easier it is to rename Newark Airport, "Liberty International" than it is to observe the genuine principles of the US Constitution. How much tider it is to call the new WTC the "Freedom Tower" rather than let people speak freely about their doubts and concerns without fear of having a knock at their doors. How simplistic it is to call an act obliterating many of our rights the Patriot Act.

Go back and read your history and you'll find that patriots were not yes men to the ruler. They didn't allow themselves to be sodomized - physically or metaphorically - while being made to say, "Thank you for all our freedom!"

There's a thought to ponder between the potato salad and the second beer.