"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Did you ever stop to realize our constitution allows freedom of speech, but not freedom of opinion.  We can go (or not) to the church of our choosing, we can assemble and speak, and redress the government, but nowhere does it say we have the right to our own opinion.  

Or at least that's the way it seems.  In the past week:

A seventh grade child wears a political t-shirt to school and is called a racist by her classmates.  Students are told to take down a political banner from their dorm room.  Senior Citizens are getting in fights at nursing homes over politics.  Even family members are arguing over who is the better candidate.  A pro-candidate march is held in a major city, yet those who visit the shops along the route, yell jeers and epithets against those who only wish to make sure their opinion is heard.  When President Bush was elected to office several prominent "celebrities" threatened to move out of the country.  (They stayed though)  A middle aged woman was carrying a political sign, only to have it ripped from her hands and the stick holding the sign, used to beat her about the head.  

I would expect events like this to occur in some far away place, in the world where dictators and fascists rule the day, What is most troubling, it comes from the very placed I served almost seven years of my life to defend.  

I'm not sure when this all started, maybe it's been here all my life and I was just too blind to see it.  I am old enough to remember seeing the riots of the sixties, and I remember hearing on the nightly news some man was shot in Memphis Tennessee, and still another time I recall people yelling things at soldiers returning from some place called Vietnam.  I guess those people didn't like what our military was doing over there, and exercising their right to free speech.  It would take several more years for me to learn about that war, and everything that went along with it.  Still today, not all the facts on that conflict have been made public.  But I digress.  

Even though our founding documents don't say explicitly we have the right to our own opinion, the idea we have the freedom of speech surely implies it.  In China, Cuba and Russia, their citizens are allowed to speak their mind, as long as it is in support of the government.  In Idi Amin Dada's Uganda, if you spoke your mind, you probably ended up espousing your ideas of freedom to the grubs and other underground critters.  

Duplicitous to all of this is the press.  Watch almost any TV news program and you will notice bias.  Some talk about thrills running up their leg, others mock opposing candidates, and still others abuse their investigative freedoms to, what an average person would consider, slander and libel, towards anyone who seems to be a contrarian, all while hiding behind their constitutional right to freedom of the press, backed up by legal precedents and teams of lawyers.  It's not the federal government we should fear.  Their need to investigate requires judicial review.  Speak out against the press, and it's not probable your private life will be exposed, odds makers in Vegas will almost guarantee it.  

Take "Joe the Plumber".  He was home in his yard throwing a ball with his son.  A candidate invited a question, and Joe accepted the opportunity.  The ensuing debate made painted a less than glowing image of the candidate in question, and started many Americans asking tough questions.  Within a day, Mr. Joe's entire life was on display for the rest of the world.  He's not really a plumber (but he does work for a plumbing company). He owes back taxes.  Is divorced. Questions about how good a father he is.  And I even heard a report his financial and medical records have been put on public display.  And by the way, his real name is Sam, not Joe.  Talk about abuse of power.  And all just for having an opinion that counters that of "the chosen one".  

Congress has stated they will move to impose the "Fairness Doctrine" after the coming election.  It has been said it will be directed at "Talk Radio" because of the overwhelming slant of this news and entertainment media in favor of one direction over the other.  But it doesn't adress the bias of the other media outlets.  Nightly news, Entertainment News, Newspapers and Late Night talk shows all slant the other way.  Where is the fairness?  Will those with contrarian opinions be placed in equal numbers on the editorial boards of the nation's newspapers?  Will Katie Curic work side by side bit Britt Hume? Will we be getting our news from less biased reporters?  Will the other opinion be heard?

There is a slight flaw in the idea we are not permitted our right to our own opinion.  We get to vote for or against people who seem to represent or counter our opinions of this country and it's government.  For now, we have the right to cast a secret ballot to show support for our candidates and our opinions.  That right may soon change in one area of life.  Several states permit collective representation of workers in labor organizations.  If one party gains too much control in Congress, a law will be passed abolishing the right to secret ballot in a Union vote.  If this happens, then this thesis is correct, we really don't have the right to our own opinion.  

The tone in this country has become dirty, like the trash that lines our highways and the smoke that fills the air we breathe and the chemicals dumped in our rivers, streams and oceans.  Back in the seventies, Chief Iron Eyes Cody did a series of advertisements (Iron Eyes Cody Ad) asking us to keep America Beautiful.  As he paddled his canoe down the stream, more and more garbage is seen in the water.  As he enters a larger river, you see the pollution in the skys, and as he stops along the highway, people throw their trash at his feet.  A tear rolls down the cheek of the once proud chief.  

Such is the way of this country has become in regards to opinion.  Especially if it is different from our own.  Even more so if you are a conservative.  Presidents Clinton and Bush both said they would make attempts to work with the opposition party.  But the most vocal on the other side refused to budge.  News shows trying to air both sides of a story end up sliding into five minute noise session between two people trying to keep the other from talking.  We can't legislate the way people think.  We don't have that right.  But we can make efforts to respect someone else's opinion.  If they can't respect our right to disagree, it can't be helped that's their opinion and although our founding fathers intended us to be able to express our opinion, they forgot to explicitly give us that right..