Why is the US afraid of freedom?

It may sound like an odd question, but every day seems to see this country - which prides itself on its democratic values, its Constitution and Bill of Rights - sliding further and further right. Surely, given the choice between abhoring torture and championing it, the choice should be obvious. Surely, given a choice between transparent and open democracy and star chamber fascism, the choice should be obvious.

UPDATE: The indefinite detention bill has passed.
Instead a financial elite are side-stepping the government. Some of them, including ex-Wall Street NY Mayor Bloomberg, make no secret of dictatorial aspirations. This Bill is being pushed through, so soon the battlefield will be US soil, and US citizens can be labelled enemy combatants. They say it is to detain domestic terrorists. How long before every single activist group is labelled as terrorists? A rumour is floating around of a 20,000 strong domestic military build-up. Is this a preparation for a national sweep? Likely not, but how sad is it, that it could be seen as possible?


Things should not be this way. This is wrong, and any fool should be able to see it. The myth of the USA, the myth of a democratic champion of freedom, is no longer based in any sense of reality.

Every day, their police force use brutal force - often including tactics prohibited in war zones - against their own citizens. No, I'm not just talking about the Occupy protestors, although that movement has highlighted something that's been wrong for a long time. I'm talking about instances like this (warning: this is messed up). I'm talking about officers forcibly strip-searching an innocent woman, keeping her naked in a cell for 6 hours and 'losing' evidence that would exonerate her and incriminate them. I'm talking about a Sheriff who denies that arrest laws were violated, even when it is beyond patently obvious they were.

When did such brutality and cruelty become normal? Why aren't police officers racing to condemn this? Why - when this happens - do authorities shuffle their feet and take another step toward defence of brutality?

The United States has lost its way. While those in authority refuse to adhere to basic principles of decency, to the basic rights of human beings, that nation will never recover. I cannot foresee any immediate future that does not contain massive amounts of domestic turmoil for the US. I think things are too far gone for a harmonious resolution.