Happy Birthday, USA!
I had an interesting time researching freedom. Seems "freedom" has always been chaotic in this country.
The "Charters of Freedom" <http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_history.html> describes how the United States government was formed and the Constitution written. And I thought today's legislature was a circus!
Eventually, the constitution was written as well as the Bill of Rights, which guarantees freedom of speech and of the press, as well as other rights.
Yet I ran across this list of Censored books <http://home.nvg.org/~aga/bulletin43.html>. Notations on this site say this list is an old one compiled in the 1980s, which perhaps makes it more interesting, as many of these books are now considered "classics." This list of books that have been censored at one time or another include a number of books by Stephen King, The Clan of the Cave Bear (by Jean Auel), The Diary of a Young Girl (by Anne Frank), Huckleberry Finn (by Mark Twain) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (by Shel Silverstein).
Artists and their songs have also been banned for various reasons, including "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks because the video portrayed domestic violence; Madonna for "Justify My Love, " described as "raunchiness [that] makes Lady Gaga look like Mother Theresa," which piqued interest in the video clip; as well as The Beatles for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life." You can find other banned music at <http://www.billboard.com/features/banned-music-20-artists-censors-tried-to-1004097713.story#/features/banned-music-20-artists-censors-tried-to-1004097713.story>.
Still, we in the United States enjoy a level of freedom not seen in many parts of the world. "Freedom in the World, 2010" is an an annual comparative assessment of the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world. Ranking of countries considered Free and Not Free is based on civil liberties and political freedom. They say in 2009, 89 countries were judged to be free, the lowest number since 1995 and the fourth consecutive year of decline, according to Freedom in the World <http://www.infoplease.com/world/statistics/freedom.html>.
So let us enjoy our freedoms this day!
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