"love america, hate bush"

i am not unpatriotic. i care deeply about my country and its citizens. luckily, due to my freedoms granted by our founding fathers, i am entitled to free speech. however, it seems that this particular freedom has recently ended...say, in the past 7 years.

i have read numerous articles about people expressing themselves through their right of free speech, only to find themselves taken into custody and arrested on various charges. why? because they were outspoken about their dislike of the current administration.

in a 2004 speech, (only july 4, no less), president bush spoke about how great it is to be an american, to have our freedoms and to have the ability "to speak our minds". now, tell that to jeffery and nicole rank. the couple was put into handcuffs and arrested on trespassing charges. they were wearing t-shirts with "BUSH" in bold letters with a circle around it with a slash through it. on the back, jeffery and nicole's shirts said "regime change begins at home" and "love american, hate bush", respectively.

although the charges were later dropped, the american civil liberties union quickly picked up the case and sued the white house. and while the white house admitted no wrongdoing, the ranks were given an $80,000 settlement. nevermind that it was we, as taxpayers, who are paying (once again) for the mistakes of the white house. but one of the best outcomes of this debacle was the release of this document given to organizers of bush rallies, speeches and events.

among the directives:

VIP ticket holders should be given to those whose group is to be highlighted "or other groups that are extremely supportive of the administration."

places for protesters should be allowed only in areas that are "not in view of the event site or motorcade route."

the rally squad's task is to use signs to cover those of the protesters and, if the protesters chants become too loud, to "begin and lead supportive chants to drown out the protesters (USA! USA! USA!)"

i just don't understand how this is able to exist. rights of american citizens are being taken away haphazardly by a coward who is afraid of those who disapprove. do we even live in a democracy anymore? i'm truly surprised that bush and chavez don't get along...they have so much in common.