2011 was a very bad year for personal freedom.
Right now, you might be cheerfully gabbing away on the newest incarnation of the IPhone that you got for Christmas, blithely unaware at the erosion that is carving away ever so delicately at all we hold dear.
The funny thing about erosion is this: we don't realize it's happening because it's so gradual. It isn't until the cliff starts crumbling away under our very feet that we realize that something has been insidiously chipping away at the very structure and stability of our way of life.
Throughout the year.........
Protests in the Middle East met with violent resistance from the government....many suggest that the attempts to quash the people are only a hint of things to come in the United States.
May 27, 2011
US President Barack Obama extended the powers of the PATRIOT Act, arguably the most unpatriotic unconstitutional document ever to cross the desk in the Oval Office.
Sept. 17, 2011
Occupy Wall Street protests began in New York City. The protests spread around the world, with people voicing their dissatisfaction with the "1%" of the population that controls the wealth of the country. While vocal, the protesters did not have a clear agenda. They raised some awareness but actually accomplished little. They were met with more force than was absolutely necessary on many occasions, being tear-gassed, manhandled, shoved, and arrested for exercising their rights to assembly.
November 11, 2011
TSA searches become "enhanced" as the federal government loosens constraints on the thoroughness of searches, including pat-downs and cavity searches. The only way to refuse this treatment is to sacrifice your plane ticket and give up your flight.
December 15, 2011
The National Defense Authorization Act passes the Senate. This act declares the United States of America a war zone, allowing for the applicable martial law rules such as indefinite detention without trial, use of military force against suspected terrorists, and rules out ANY LIMITS on Presidential authority.
Unofficially, 2011 has been the year that the American government has declared war on it's people. It is no longer a representative government but the beginning of the Oligarchy that intends to take complete power in 2012.
2011 can kiss my ass. It's over, as of today, and I hope the current Powers That Be have enjoyed rubbing their greedy little hands together over the corpse of the Constitution like flies over a rotten pickle.
Because in 2012 the battle to reclaim our freedom will begin in earnest. Educate yourselves. Make noise. Tell everyone. The invasion isn't coming - it's already here.