(U-WIRE) -In a recent visit to Russia and Eastern Europe, George Bush used the diplomatic mission to continue following through on his vision of spreading freedom and democracy throughout the world. During his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush lectured Putin on the values of democracy, saying, Strong countries are built by building strong democracies. Bush made these comments in response to Putin's drastic anti-democratic reforms after a recent terrorist attack at a school. After visiting Russia, Bush paid a visit to Georgia to praise the Georgian government for its recent revolution that resulted in the ouster of its former authoritarian rule. He then criticized Russia's refusal to abandon two military bases in Georgia and encouraged Russia to accept newly forming democracies in the region.
While the Bush administration has repeatedly criticized Russia, it seems to have overlooked the anti-democratic reforms here in the United States. Like Russia, the Bush administration pushed its own reforms after Sept. 11. In this period of hysteria, the administration used the opportunity to push the Patriot Act through the House of Representatives and the Senate at 2 a.m. with hardly any discussion. While supporters claim that the bill protects our freedom, the 200-plus page document gives to authorities, among many other powers, legal sanctions that include greater capability to conduct wire-tapping and detaining people indefinitely without reason.
Furthermore, the administration and the media put pressure on any person or organization that criticizes its increasingly unpopular war in Iraq and has a history of keeping the public in the dark about its failure to create an exit strategy and control the insurgency. The administration has also begun an assault on academic freedom in America. As a result, there is increasing pressure on universities to prevent professors from expressing their opinions in their classrooms. Perhaps the most significant violation of freedom and democracy in America is the detainment of hundreds of people in Guantanamo Bay who have been detained there for more than a year without the right to an attorney or the right of a fair and speedy trial guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States. After all of this, we still have not considered the problems in our elections. Many people in America still have concerns about the 2000 Florida recount and the mounting concerns of discrepancies in voting machines and voter intimidation nationwide.
Of course, with all of that in mind, we must still recognize that we live in a relatively free society compared to other countries throughout the world. In the United States people can, for the most part, do as they please. Unlike the people of countries who live under dictatorial regimes, Americans can sit in a public place and express their opinion without the fear of being arrested, they can live without the fear of persecution, and they will never have to worry about the fear of losing their democracy ... at least not yet.
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