The time has come for us to celebrate our independence, when we were endowed the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Republican politicians have never squandered the opportunity to make quite clear that they stand firmly for freedom and liberty, especially during election times. These are obviously two separate words yet they must be connected in some way so let me gain some clarity here. Well, I am full of optimism for changes in this country, if the conservatives are supporting liberty. According to the dictionary: LIBERTY ( ‘freedom to choose; freedom from compulsion or constraint’). The phrase ‘at liberty’: permitted to do or say something. It would appear to me (might be a bit slow) that the Republicans are using tremendous effort – and lots of money – to take liberty away from people, not helping them to gain it. Not permitting them to have an abortion, have access to birth control or medical care, to marry the person that they love. There appears to be adequate amounts of compulsion and constraint from the Right yet liberty, by definition, is the freedom from that.
David S. Gooding