Do you enjoy the right to choose?

According to Wikipedia civil liberties are freedoms that protect the individual from government. Hmm, this got me thinking…do I have any of these? According to the constitution I do.
Homeland security is defined as a security effort by a government to protect a nation against perceived external or internal threat. Basically, anything they say is a threat, it IS a threat.

Here’s just a few things that are perceived as threats by the Atlanta airport’s security:
*Underwire bras- OMG, no chubby ladies can travel? or should they just let those suckers wave in the
wind?
*Nail Files- no hang nails on this flight
*Body Piercings- they really don’t want you to bring this with you but if you do you will be patted
down. All I can say is- Do you promise?
*Scissors are permitted as long as they are shorter than four inches- so short cuts don’t hurt?
*Lighters- allowed if they have no fuel in them- what use would you have for a regular lighter on
a plane?
*Shoes- I read the ‘reasons’ for this- explosive could be stored in an altered shoe. Okay, couldn’t
any and everything be ‘altered’ in some way? Will we walk nude through checkpoints in the future?
Now everything from throwing stars to screwdrivers can be checked in your bags. I wonder about people who travel with home maintenance items. Makes you say, hmm.

How does this relate to writing and specifically romance writing? I see people giving up their rights all around me on almost a daily basis. Some things seem small and others are a big deal but all are given away without much thought. The right to bear arms, the right to defend your family, the right to live where and how you want to live- those are all huge rights. The right to vote your candidate into office and the right to a free and fair education- those are major rights as well. As I see these life-altering rights being invaded upon I can only wonder about the smaller freedoms we now enjoy- reading and writing erotic romance is one of those rights. Right now, on March 20, 2009, you can read any and everything you want. No matter what your kink is- it is probably a internet click away. Tomorrow…now that’s a different story. Stand up for your choices- good or bad, it’s still YOUR choice.