And, yes, I DO take it personally: Weeping over the state of our nation

it's been over a week since naomi wolf posted this at the huffpo... i didn't stumble across it until yesterday when following up a link from another story... (i confess to having stopped visiting the huffpo, primarily due to the strong visceral reaction i get when confronted with arianna's insufferable self-promotion and name-dropping, although i acknowledge i'm missing some good stuff...)

I wish people would stop breaking into tears when they talk to me these days.

I am traveling across the country at the moment -- Colorado to California -- speaking to groups of Americans from all walks of life about the assault on liberty and the 10 steps now underway in America to a violently closed society.

The good news is that Americans are already awake: I thought there would be resistance to or disbelief at this message of gathering darkness -- but I am finding crowds of people who don't need me to tell them to worry; they are already scared, already alert to the danger and entirely prepared to hear what the big picture might look like. To my great relief, Americans are smart and brave and they are unflinching in their readiness to hear the worst and take action. And they love their country.

But I can't stand the stories I am hearing. I can't stand to open my email these days. And wherever I go, it seems, at least once a day, someone very strong starts to cry while they are speaking.

i've found that, over the years, i tend to tear up in moments of strong emotion, a reaction i've stopped trying to hide... two such times in our recent political history stand out... one was watching richard clarke's testimony before congress and the other was patrick fitzgerald's first press conference, both historical and increasingly rare moments of governmental honesty, integrity and accountability...

naomi wolf is involved with a group called the american freedom campaign...

The Constitution protects American Freedom. With checks and balances, and basic legal rights, it has prevented tyranny and safeguarded our liberty. Yet today, under the pretense of the "war on terror," the White House is dismantling the Constitution, concentrating power in the President and undermining the rule of law. THIS IS UN-AMERICAN. The American Freedom Campaign is dedicated to confronting and correcting these abuses of our America.

The mission of the American Freedom Campaign (AFC) is threefold. Our initial goal is to educate American citizens about the current Constitutional crisis in this country, about their individual rights, and about our Founders’ vision. As we educate, our secondary goal is to motivate and inspire individuals in order to build a grassroots citizens’ democracy movement. Finally, with the strength of this grassroots movement at our side, the American Freedom Campaign – through its advocacy arm, the American Freedom Campaign Action Fund – will push for the enactment of statutes that would end the infringement of fundamental rights by the executive and restore the Constitution’s hallowed system of checks and balances.

here's a bit of what the american freedom campaign agenda is all about...

At critical moments in our history, Americans have been called upon to protect our Constitutional guarantees of liberty and justice. We face such a moment today. The American Freedom Campaign is a non-partisan citizens' alliance formed to reverse the abuse of executive power and restore our system of checks and balances with these ten goals:

Fully restore the right to challenge the legality of one's detention, or habeas corpus, and the right of detained suspects to be charged and brought to trial.

Prohibit torture and all cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Prohibit the use of secret evidence.

Prohibit the detention of anyone, including U.S. citizens, as an "enemy combatant" outside the battlefield, and on the President's say-so alone.

Prohibit the government from secretly breaking and entering our homes, tapping our phones or email, or seizing our computers without a court order, on the President's say-so alone.

Prohibit the President from "disappearing" anyone and holding them in secret detention.

Prohibit the executive from claiming "state secrets" to deny justice to victims of government misdeeds, and from claiming "executive privilege" to obstruct Congressional oversight and an open government.
Prohibit the abuse of signing statements, where the President seeks to disregard duly enacted provisions of bills.

Use the federal courts, or courts-martial, to charge and prosecute terrorism suspects, and close Guantanamo down.

Reaffirm that the Espionage Act does not prohibit journalists from reporting on classified national security matters without fear of prosecution.