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These past few years have seen a huge attack on our civil liberties. It's actually scary to watch it unfold, and sometimes it’s hard to believe it is actually happening. Here's a list of a dozen major freedoms we have lost, and if we don’t fight to get these back, more losses are sure to come:

1. The freedom to vote. Across the nation, voter suppression legislation is being enacted in record numbers, making it more difficult for people to vote, especially minorities, students and seniors (read: Democrats.) While no actual proof, (such as massive voter fraud) has been offered up to justify this, any law that makes it more difficult to exercise our freedom to vote is an affront to every citizen.

2. Freedom from fixed elections has been doomed forever thanks to the Supreme Court and its landmark ruling “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.” The ruling now allows individuals to make unlimited contributions to Political Action Committees. These are known as the “Super Pacs,” which have gone on to financially support candidates in their races, effectively buying elections.

3. Freedom to choose whom we can marry. While the Human Rights Campaign reports more and more states are legalizing gay marriage, it is frightening to see how many people still think they have the right to tell someone who they can marry. They are allowing our government, in essence, to control who we can love. The more states allow gays to marry, the better for all of us. We must do everything we can to keep government out of our personal decisions.

4. Freedom from discrimination. Arizona narrowly escaped going down the road to legalized discrimination, when it’s Governor, Jan Brewer, vetoed SB 1062, originally written to allow people to claim their religious beliefs as a defense against claims of discrimination. The bill could open the door to give people the right to break a law and claim religious freedom as a defense. It gained national attention when supporters of the gay community stated it would allow businesses to refuse to serve gays. Passage of this bill would have taken our country back over 50 years, when the fight for civil rights swept this country.

5. Freedom for women to have equal rights ...and the right to chose what she can do with her own body. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, since 2011, in our state alone, “Governor Walker has authorized 11 policies that take away basic health care access from women, including unprecedented cuts for women and families in need of essential preventative and diagnostic health care such as birth control and cancer screenings. Walker has worked to end insurance coverage for birth control, repealed sex education program requirements in our schools while ending equal pay protections for women and turning away millions in federal resources to enhance care for women and families. At the same time Walker has devastated women's access to preventative care; he also has signed into law four new policies that threaten women's access to safe and legal abortion in Wisconsin. It seems, Walker has declared his own war on women.

6. Freedom from other people’s religions. Religion has a stronghold in our government that is pushing an agenda on us that threatens many of our personal freedoms. Before anyone attacks me for blasphemy, let me explain. I believe in God. Period. It’s my own personal decision to do so. I do not try to push my religious beliefs onto others. I was raised Lutheran, but in my 54 years, I have come to love and appreciate so many other religions, that I believe it is fair to say, there is not one religion more righteous over another. In that vein, I believe there should not be just one religion dictating its theology over the rest of the country. Therefore, we cannot enact laws that favor one religious belief over another. It has been said that there is an attack on religion lately, not because we are a nation of non-believers, but because we are tired of people advancing personal agenda’s in the name of their religion.

7. Freedom to unionize. The strength of unions has been attacked in nearly every state, and very successfully in Wisconsin.They try to say it’s better for business, not to have unions. It will save money, not to have unions. They try to pretend union members are mad they have to pay dues, so let’s render a union powerless to force them to do so…whatever the reason, the bottom line is: UNIONS ARE THE LAST VOICE OF THE WORKING MAN. The right to unionize should never be weakened. It’s our last tool against oppression.

8. Freedom to bear arms. Yes, it’s scary to see school children killed by someone who should never have had a gun…but it’s even scarier to restrict an entire country or state from allowing law-abiding citizens the only protection they have against those crazies. The original intent of the constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to bear arms, was to protect us from our government, something we need now more than ever.

9. Freedom from government intervention into our private lives. The Patriot Act was passed after 9-11, giving the government unprecedented leeway to delve into our personal lives, in the name of defending us from terrorism. It widened the use of surveillance and getting court orders to access business and personal records. It extended the reach of what or who can be confiscated. While none of us wants terrorism, we also don’t to see any of our rights trampled on, and be drafted into the war on terror.

10. Freedom from health privacy invasion. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) “set standards for the security of electronic protected health information.” Who among us has not been given a disclosure from your doctor about what they do with your information. Unfortunately, it has made me more uncertain about the privacy of my information when I see what they can do with it. Next time you are asked to sign this disclosure, take the time to read it and digest just how little privacy you really have.

11. Freedom to become a citizen. Illegal immigration has tainted the process to become a legal citizen in this country. Watching our tax dollars get drained to cover medical care, educate illegal’s, and even feed them, has put a rotten taste in America’s mouth. We have lost touch with what it was all about, to “come to America.” Becoming a citizen should not happen due to amnesty. It should happen due to honesty.

12. Freedom from Politicians. This particular group of people is pretty much responsible for nearly every other lost freedom. When our country was born, people were elected to REPRESENT us. Somewhere along the line, they became “lawmakers,” who use their position to benefit whatever will net them the largest gain, either financially, or to gain power. The current Congressional approval rating stands at just 13%. They are not listening to us, and worse, they don’t care.

Some will say the Tea Party is to blame for most of this. But we have to accept the blame, too. We have become too complacent, thinking it’s impossible to make a change. Well look at where we were 10 years ago. We still had most of these freedoms. It changed overnight with an election. We can change it back.

So I ask you, did I miss any freedoms? I welcome you to “sher” your list with me.

Editor's Note: Purple Wisconsin is a collection of community bloggers with views from across the political spectrum. The Journal Sentinel hosts these blogs as a way to encourage thoughtful debate about the important issues facing Wisconsin and the Milwaukee region. The opinions voiced here are those of the individual bloggers alone; they are responsible for their posts. The Journal Sentinel does not edit or direct the bloggers in any fashion.