HAS America's civil liberties been compromised since 9/11

I hear a lot of rhetoric on the news and read it in newspapers regarding the loss of free speech in the USA. I believe we all have an innate right to free speech but we must also be responsible and accept the consequences of such rights as an adult. We cannot, for example, yell "fire" in a theatre without repercussions just like we cannot joke around about having a bomb on us when we are going through the multitude of security checks at the airport.

I think that the current administration has gone a little too far when it comes to expressing our rights of free speech. I think that no one should say anything in regards to hurting the president, that is ludicrous. Even if we do not like the guy any type of violence is wrong. I do have issues with the current administration regarding the following:

White House Policy Illegally Silences Americans Critical of Bush

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against Gregory Jenkins, a former high-level White House staffer who enacted a policy that unlawfully excluded individuals perceived to be critical of the administration from public events where President Bush was present. The policy is laid out in an October 2002 “Presidential Advance Manual” obtained by the ACLU.

The ACLU filed today’s lawsuit, Rank v. Jenkins, after obtaining a heavily redacted version of the Presidential Advance Manual from the Justice Department. This manual is the Bush administration’s guide for planning presidential events around the country, and it repeatedly instructs organizers about “the best method for preventing demonstrators,” “deterring potential protesters from attending events,” “designat[ing] a protest area . . . preferably not in view of the event site or motorcade route,” and the like.

The lawsuit names as plaintiffs Jeff and Nicole Rank, who were arrested at a Fourth of July presidential appearance at the West Virginia State Capitol because they were wearing T-shirts critical of the president, and Alex Young and Leslie Weise, Denver residents who were thrown out of a town hall meeting with President Bush because they had an anti-war bumper sticker on their car.

http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/silenced.html

What is wrong with having an anti-war sticker at a town hall meeting? Isn't that going a little too far, a little too big brother? This country was founded on the foundations of freedom, against the tyranny of the British Empire. What happened to the unwavering American pioneer spirit? What are our brethren fighting for if not at least to guarantee our rights to free speech (at the very least). I wish our soldiers were home, I WISH we could all get along, the billions spent were used here at home. I WISH I WISH. I live in a country where I can still say these things and post them on my blog. Sadly other countries have so much censorship that even their blogs can be banned. I hope my country does not resort to that.