What has happened here?

I'm not what you would consider a "politically charged" person. I try to follow loosely what's going on in the world, watching national news almost daily. I know how I feel about some issues, others I have mixed feelings about. While I am often sure in my convictions, I can sometimes be swayed, or sometimes, I find it better to agree to disagree. I usually don't get too worked up about anything, but I've seen a few things lately and I saw something specific today that just set me off. Something that makes me say, "what has happened in this country? When did a country founded on the ideals of freedom become a place to be afraid of expressing your feelings and beliefs freely?"
I saw today that former Vice President, and newly best friend of the environment, Al Gore, said that scientists who are taking a "skeptical view" of the extreme extent of man's contributions to global warming are being "bribed by the government to betray science." Now, I've never been one for consiracy theories, but these scientists, who may or may not be a majority (every report is different, ya know), are being bashed, and in some cases, even having their jobs threatened because of a difference of opinion. Any scientist will tell you it's nearly impossible to determine science as fact. Things that are determined as "laws" simply have held up SO FAR. They haven't been disproven YET." Now, I'm not saying either side is right or worng. Personally I think they are all right to a degree...yes, fossil fuels haven't helped, but I bet if we lived during the ice age we would have found people to blame for that too and thought it would have ended the whole world. But history says that the earth goes through global shifts. The big problem with science is that we may not know how or why things work they way they do until years down the road.
But that isn't the point! The point is, in THIS country, we are all allowed to believe what we want! Science and statistics can be interpreted differetly. Our country is stabilized, ultimatly, by conflict and disagreement. If our "specialists" and "experts" weren't allowed to contradict popular opinion, where would we be? Would we have a flat earth picture still? Would we think we were part of Asia? Would we have theories of physics? Would we still have slavery? Working through difference of opinion is how progress is made.
Another thing I saw this week was in response to the remark democratic presidential candidate Sen Biden made about Sen Obama, saying he was happy to see a nice, charming, clean, black man entering the race. Does that sound like a compliment to anyone else? Well, former presidential candidate Al Sharpton took offence (who's surprised?) I guess he figured Sen Biden was implying that no "nice, charming, clean, black" men had run for president before. I guess that's what he's figured. Even Obama said he knew what Biden meant and was not offended. The spot I saw on the news included a guest appearance by the black author of the book, White Guilt. He said something that stuck with me..."Political Correctness is the language of white guilt." He said whites are automatically stigmatized as being racist and are constantly having to disprove that and overcome that.
Now, I like black people just fine. My niece is a mixed child and her black side of the family is darling people. Her grandparents are financially stable and still married to each other. I've had black friends. But I did nothing to purpetuate the high percentages of black families on government support. I did nothing to promote the high percentages of gangs that have black members. I did nothing to purpetuate the amount of black single-parent homes. When did we become afraid of noticing things that are true? Why is it we are racist for simply making an observation? And yes, the system isn't perfect, and it's hard to break a cycle you see all around you, but it isn't automatically someone else's fault. My family has never been rich. No one in my family had been to college. I worked my butt off in high school and got a scholarship available to any state resident, to a state school. Anyone can.
When did we become afraid of voicing our free thoughts? When did the "American Dream" become winning a reality show to become rich and famous? When did we all become so entitled? When did we become so lazy? When did politics and political correctness poison our national identity? No one seems to get anything accomplished for all the sales pitches and finger pointing. I am already dreading the next year and a half of campaigning. It's all so ridiculous!