In the wake of the USA PATRIOT Act and the recent hoopla following the September 11th attacks on America; the terms 'Freedom' and 'Liberty' were bandied about quite freely. They had become the new buzz-words; full of invective and emotional loading, but little meaning. This is a disservice to the terms.
Freedom does not mean you have the right to go down to the 7-11 and choose whether to buy a Coke or a Mt. Dew. Freedom means that someone else can do that just as legally as you can; and you don't have any right to stop them.
Freedom means granting other people the same rights as you have yourself. No more, no less.
Freedom means you have no right to impose your views on other people -- because they have the liberty to ignore you or defend themselves from you.
Freedom does not mean to be safe from 'terrorists' or 'communists' or whatever bogeyman someone uses to try to scare you into giving up your freedom. The best protection against such things is take responsibility for yourself; and be prepared against them.
It is a sad day when we are denied a freedom, because someone else might abuse it.
If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all.
Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is the history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.
Liberty is the only thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others.