“Repression just about always arrives with the consent of the governed. Benjamin Franklin memorably warned that those who would trade liberty for safety deserve neither. But what did Franklin know about Al Qaeda and orange alerts and shady people with Arabic names picked up on the Brooklyn Bridge, practically in the shadow of where you-know-what happened almost two years ago? And what have you got to hide, anyway?”
“The sixth annual Muzzle Awards, which single out 10 enemies of free speech and personal liberties, come amid a wave of repression. Last Fourth of July — when the first post-9/11 Muzzles were unveiled — was a time of trouble, but it was also a time of guarded optimism. Congress had quickly and spinelessly passed the USA Patriot Act, but so little use had been made of it by then that we wrote, “Fortunately, to date there have been more portents of oppression than actual oppression.” (from The Pheonix via Bookslut)
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