I just heard Tom Colburn (R-OK) ask Nominee Elena Kagan, "Are you more free than you were 30 years ago?" He continued to ramble that today people feel LESS liberty than they did 30 years ago, and that only by weakening government could we become more free.
Are YOU more free than you were 30 years ago?
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This theme was brilliantly picked up by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who noted that women have advanced very far since 1980, and that this increase in representation in the SCOTUS and the Senate were advances in "freedom".
I think that while, women are "more free to pursue career goals", is a decent focus for the Senator, there are much better and more relavent topics.
I am a gay man, and I will admit that, while not the only, it is certainly a compelling reason for becoming a Democrat as a teenage. But remember 1980. At that time homosexual conduct was criminalized in most states. It was a FELONY. As a gay man, do I feel more free than I did 30 years ago? The question, when asked aloud, becomes laughable. I am no longer in fear of prison because of my sexual activities. Yeah, I'm more free than I was 30 years ago, thanks for asking!
US History is a roadmap of the struggle, and attainment, of freedom of its various people over time. If you accept Sen. Klobuchar's asserting that the "freedom to pursue" is indeed an increase of freedom, then almost all minorities are much more free to pursue careers, not just in Congress but also in the boardrooms.
So here is an opportunity for KOSsacks: Are YOU more free than you were 30 years ago? Specifically, how? Let's hear it for freedom, and show, clearly and easily, how foolish Sen. Colburn's question was.