Beware of smiling people bearing petitions with the word “freedom."  Freedom sounds like something we should all aspire to have, but the Republicans' overuse of the word during the Bush tenure (remember Freedom Fries?) has turned the word into a tool often used in conservative political rhetoric.

Members of the Ohio Tea Party were not satisfied with tricking Ohio voters into passing their "Healthcare Freedom Amendment," Issue 3, in November.  They were disturbed that the more honest ballot language of Issue 2 enabled their bill limiting collective bargaining to be soundly defeated during the same election. 

Now they want to once again attempt to destroy unions by misleading people with the word freedom in petitions promoting the "Workplace Freedom Amendment."  Their movement is called "Ohioans for Workplace Freedom," and their supposed goal is "to secure workplace freedom for all Ohioans by amending Ohio's Constitution to guarantee the freedom of Ohioans to choose whether to participate in a labor organization as a condition of employment."

The idea of freedom should include a guarantee for every citizen's economic security and justice for those who've been denied equality.  This amendment has absolutely nothing to do with freedom for the middle class majority in Ohio, but it will give a minority of wealthier Ohioans the freedom to pay workers less and to offer them worse working conditions and benefits.

Think.