What country do we live in?

I have come to the indignant realization that I no longer live in the United States of America; it is the nation-state it once was in name only. Dick Cheney, he who tells U.S. senators to "go fuck themselves", has eviscerated the constitutional meat of this country and left behind the meaningless husk for the rest of us to pick over. Two days ago a man named Steven Howards filed a lawsuit against a member of the Secret Service for a wrongful arrest this past June. According to the Rocky Mountain News, "Howards was walking his 7-year-old son to a piano practice, when he saw Cheney surrounded by a group of people in an outdoor mall area, shaking hands and posing for pictures with several people.

According to the lawsuit filed at U.S. District Court in Denver, Howards and his son walked to about two-to-three feet from where Cheney was standing, and said to the vice president, "I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible," or words to that effect, then walked on.

Ten minutes later, according to Howards' lawsuit, he and his son were walking back through the same area, when they were approached by Secret Service agent Virgil D. "Gus" Reichle Jr., who asked Howards if he had "assaulted" the vice president. Howards denied doing so, but was nonetheless placed in handcuffs and taken to the Eagle County Jail."

It was a mix-up, you say, a one-time mistake and the charges were dismissed. Yes, they were dismissed -- three weeks later. Thankfully Steve Howards didn't roll over and plead guilty to a lesser charge like some other people might have; he remembers that people still possess the right to free speech in this country. Thank you, Steve, for pushing back.

This wasn't the first time something like this has happened, however. In Indiana in 2002, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer John Blair was arrested for holding a sign that read, "CHENEY-19th Century Energy Man" across the street from a convention center where Cheney was hosting a fundraiser for a local Congressman. Two weeks later, the prosecuting attorney dismissed the charges. Allegedly the arresting officers lied about the arrest. Read about Blair's Orwellian experience here, and lament the fact that Cheney and his smirking pet chimpanzee have two more years in office.

Hey Dick, go fuck yourself. It's our country, too.