This post took me a very long time to write (obviously). I really struggled with what I wanted to write about the presidential speeches. After much thought I wanted to write about the use of freedom in the speeches. It's funny how each president speaks of how many freedoms we have here in the United States. I believe that while we are in a sense, free, we still are held back by many "not on paper" restrictions. We have the freedom of speech, but if we say the wrong thing to the wrong crowd, we could get beat up. And even if they don't beat you up, many will find ways to hurt the person in other ways. I guess some may say that's not really a restriction, but I'd love to live a life (and I bet many others would too) where you can stick up for yourself, do the things you love, and not worry about what others may do to you the next day.
Another thing that comes to my attention is the fact that while freedom is supposed to be for every person living in our country, not too long ago many different groups of people didn't have the same rights and freedoms of others. African-Americans were considered a lesser race that didn't deserve the same rights as whites. Even women, no matter what color, were looked down upon and not treated with the same respect or given the same freedoms as white males.
In a country that speaks so highly of our freedoms we need to really annalyse what is really going on. Words don't hold as much power as actions.
I have to agree with you, that it is hard to see how so many Presidents could have seen a freedom in our nation while such suppression was happening in our country. At the same time it is hard to find a true definition of freedom as where is the line drawn. When does freedom of speech become vandalism, and where does ones own freedom overtake that of someone else?
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