The land of the free?

So far I've been trying to steer away from politics on this blog, but I think this warrants some attention. I think that it's hard not to realize that our civil liberties have been under siege under the present administration, but I was truly horrified when I read this story in the Jan/Feb issue of the Atlantic Monthly.

A 24 year veteran of the National Guard, a teacher, decides to take his class to hear the President speak. And I quote - But after they had passed through a metal detector and their tickets and IDs were checked, they were denied admittance and ordered back on the bus. One of the boys had a John Kerry sticker on his wallet.

Indignant, Walz refused. "As a soldier, I told them I had a right to see my commander-in-chief," [...]
His challenge prompted a KGB-style interrogation that was sadly characteristic of the Bush campaign events. Do you support the president? Walz refused to answer. Do you oppose the president? Walz replied that it was no one's business but his own. (He later learned that his wife was informed that the Secret Service might arrest him.) Walz thought for a moment and asked the Bush staffers if they really wanted to arrest a command seargent major who'd just returned from fighting a war on terrorism.

(emphasis is mine)