Post Modern Patriot

Tonight I watched “Home of the Brave” a 2005 movie that tells the story of Viola Liuzzo who was a martyr to the civil rights movement in 1965. In light of the wonderful election results : ) it shows exactly how far we have come in 43 years but also reminds us how vigilant we must be to protect our civil liberties. Some of the things that went on during this campaign, particularly at the Republican national convention (i.e., the muzzling and the arrests of reporters and demonstrators) hark back to the repression and supression of ideas and dissent that existed and still does exist in our country.

I am optimistic that some of the damage that was done during the Bush Administration is going to be reversed and signs seem to point in that direction, so far, although I’m disappointed that civil liberties and human rights issues are not mentioned in this article.

The ACLU has a suggested agenda of issues prepared for President Obama’s transition team to tackle. I’m totally on board with most of their suggestions and I hope our new President is too. The article above mentions “interest groups” – here’s hoping that the ACLU is one of those groups.

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about Viola Liuzzo, here is a ten minute bio of her that I found on YouTube: