What constitutes political repression

One of the ideas that has been preoccupying me lately — the Left’s definition of political repression — appears as an American Thinker article.  Here’s the beginning of my article:

I’ve been dismissive of Democratic charges that the Bush administration is suppressing dissent.  I think that I, in common with most people, define government suppression of dissent as a situation in which the government tortures, imprisons or kills dissenters. For example, just a month ago, Akbar Mohammadi, an Iranian dissident who was imprisoned for participating in an anti-government protest, died nine days into a hunger strike against his prison conditions.

Castro’s Cuba is another example of what it really means when a government represses citizens who dare to voice criticism.  Only three years ago, the Cuban government sought life terms for seventy-eight Cubans, including more than thirty journalists, who had the temerity to question Castro’s regime.  After a one day kangaroo trial, the “lenient” court eschewed life sentences and, instead, limited the inevitable convictions to terms ranging from twenty to twenty-seven years.

If this type of oppression were indeed happening here, Cindy Sheehan, instead of swinging from the trees in Crawford and enjoying her milkshake hunger strike, would be in some dank prison cell having the soles of her feet whipped.

If you have the time to read the whole thing, I’d love it if you’d get back to me and tell me what you think.