July 4, 2012

As we celebrate Independence Day today, I have been thinking a little on that iconic American saying that “Freedom isn’t free.”

Usually that sentiment refers to the sacrifices of the men and women who have served or currently serve in the military and that would also include their families. This sense of freedom not being a freebie is especially relevant today as the war in Iraq has ended (we can only hope this is so) and the war in Afghanistan winds down. One of the consequences of these senseless military adventures is that today 12.7 percent of returning veterans are unemployed (there is one bright note however in that some of the workers re-building the World Trade Center are veterans who are being trained in construction trades through an innovative union effort).

I share the belief that freedom is not free however large parts of the corporate world together with the political right wing are attempting today to cheapen this long-held American value. They have been using the word “freedom” cynically as part of an effort on their part to rally the American public—ultimately against its own best interests.

When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, which is derisively referred to as Obamacare by conservatives everywhere, Sarah Palin tweeted “Obama lies, freedom dies.” She is referring I suppose to the freedom to live without viable health care when you find yourself struggling with an illness or the consequences of a terrible accident. In its otherwise positive decision, the Supreme Court allowed states the “freedom” to deny Medicaid coverage to their poorest citizens—even though the federal government would pick up the tab.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker recently received the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) “Defender of Freedom” award. With the NRA being what it is, I can only imagine that their honoring the governor in this manner recognizes Governor Walker’s freedom to fight with the teacher’s union who simply want to bargain fairly regarding such issues as class size.

We are repeatedly told that corporations should have freedom from such issues as those pesky job safety regulations, environmental protections and labor standards thus providing working people the freedom to be crushed in collapsing mines, choke on polluted air and most importantly, freedom from a living wage.

When the Tea Party talks about the “freedom” to replace Social Security with vouchers, what they really mean is freedom from a secure retirement income. The “freedom” to get vouchers for retraining is actually freedom from unemployment compensation’s safety net when one’s job is shipped overseas.

The “freedom” of cutting local government translates into the freedom from having the help of a police officer or a fire fighter or EMS technician in one’s time of greatest need.

Let’s just call this right-wing freedom catch phrase what it really is: a twisted and mean-spirited political strategy designed to dupe the public, that is you and me, which holds the word “freedom” as something sacred.

Today, on Independence Day, I vote for returning to a truer and more accurate use of the word “freedom” by starting with President Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms: Freedom of speech, expression, worship and freedom from want and fear.

Those freedoms are under heavy attack today and we will all pay a huge price if we allow the Tea Party, which has already hijacked the GOP, to also hijack our country right from under us.