Another attack on personal freedoms

Clarion File Photo
Protestor dressed as Lady Liberty on Capitol Square.
September 25, 2012
This whole idea of needing a permit to assemble before your government on the Capitol Square has taken a turn for the worse.
Recently, people playing music on the Capitol Square during the Farmers’ Market were told to file for a permit every time they perform, even though their performances are often impromptu. Also, Capitol Police have delivered citations to people at their homes and businesses for these offenses.
These two incidents are frightening. In the Constitution, founded over 200 years ago by honorable people who escaped tyranny by traveling 3,000 miles to find freedom, it states that Congress shall make no laws restricting “the right of the people to peaceably assemble.” The founding fathers would be troubled to know that free expression is under threat in our society over 200 years later.
If these attacks on our personal freedoms continue, I fear that it will set a precedent for future infringements until the day comes when we see Capitol Square, State Street and the surrounding areas closed off in a similar fashion to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Eventually we can enjoy watching Soviet style parades with formations of troops and tanks marching around the block with Leninist style flags waving in the breeze, a breeze that would be a deathblow to freedom. It will take more than peaceful protests and drum banging to defy that.