American's Fading Love of Freedom

by James Bovard
Jan. 22, 2015

Tea Party protesters, some Republicans, and many libertarians perceive the federal government as a vast engine of oppression. But are anti-Obama activists mistaken in presuming that most Americans still care about freedom?

A Gallup poll released in July asked a thousand Americans, "Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what to do with your life?" Admittedly, only 21 percent said they were dissatisfied. But that percentage had more than doubled since the previous Gallup poll on this question in 2006, when only 9 percent complained. That number was surprisingly low, considering the controversies back then over the USA PATRIOT ACT and repressive "free speech zones," and the first round of explosive revelations of National Security Agency illegal wiretaps on thousands of Americans. Barack Obama's first presidential campaign exploited the Bush administration's civil-liberties record to hype a one-term senator from Illinois as America's constitutional savior.

Read More