Dissent Built America; Why is it Considered Un-American Now?

The Proclamation of 1763 Kicks Off the First Great Age of American Dissent

People sometimes tend to forget that America was founded upon open dissent. Under the illegitimate Bush regime, dissenting opinions have been labeled everything from unpatriotic to un-American to treasonous. Makes one wonder whether Thomas Paine, John Hancock, Sam Adams and the gang would be tortured in some prison in Eastern Europe if they were alive in American today. Yes, dissent built this country and I for one believe dissent will save it.

The Patriot Act is only the most famous legislative action taken by the Bush regime to restrict civil rights in America. But anyone who openly questions the Patriot Act is accused of being soft on terrorism. After all, is there really any justifiable point at which allowing people the freedom to do certain things trumps protecting us from the onslaught of terrorists who have been making their way into this country since the rise of Islamic terrorism in the early 70's?

One of the earliest examples of open dissent that ultimately led to the American Revolutionary War the reaction to the Proclamation of 1763. The Proclamation of 1763 ostensibly was instituted in order to restrict further European settlement of all lands that lay east of the Appalachian Mountains. This early attempt at immigration reform was an attempt to avert new conflicts with the Indians on the west side. As an attempt to legislate racial harmony, the Proclamation couldn't have been a more spectacular failure. That failure, however, pales in comparison to the Proclamation of 1763 as an attempt to maintain British domination over the colonies. It was, in fact, part of a long fuse connected to a powder keg waiting to detonate into freedom and liberty.