When the terms "Liberal" and "Conservative" are used without the user defining what they mean for the sake of conversation, the dialogue orbits around like a bat in a aviary.

The origins of liberal thought in America can be found in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights by Jefferson, Madison, Franklyn and others. There it is, it's easy to see. Roots are in the Magna Carta and the above influences cited.

Liberalism is a distinct American ideology and defines what originally set this country apart from foreign dictatorships.

Unfortunately, all of these principles are being trashed such as "Habeas Corpus", "Posse Commitatus", protection against "illegal search and seizure", the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the justification is the villification of the term "liberal" by an Orwellian religious, corporate and military hierarchy. New restrictions employing wire-tapping and unlawful surveillance are being instituted to furthur erode our "Liberal" system of government.

As to the conformity of the American public, this may be overrated and in time prove to be false. If not, and people remain asleep, what we know of the great American experiment in Democracy may become obsolete and we once again enter the dark ages of Feudalism, Fascism and Corporatism.

The antidote seems to be the proliferation of small activist groups of people working in their community to protect the real American values.

Frank Hamilton