Our first amendment rights were initially attacked by the the civil rights movement; now if that's not a paradox! In the swift-boat movement to become politically correct, anything that even remotely resembled racism was condemned and eventually "Hate-crime" laws were passed to give this condemnation teeth. You could go to jail for wearing a Casper the ghost t-shirt if he had on a hoody with a cross. And this "Love or leave it" attitude that has grown, fostered initially by our intolerance of illegal aliens, has crept into our lives bearing the truth and conviction of a slogan; sieg heil! I am not offering criticism, only commentary; the founders of our nation knew the value of free speech that our children will never know and the death-knoll sounded in our generation.
Very good post Sea. Yes, it is a sad fact that our right of free speech is yet another victim of rampant PCism. When we cannot express our views and opinions in a public place without fear of retribution then it is a sad day in our world. When we are banned from our Courts, our State and National Capitols, all public places, unless we toe the PC line that has been set down, then it is truly a dark time. And it is an irony that those who would beat the drum of patriotism, who proclaim thier ardent defense of freedom and support for our founders and forefathers, they are the first ones to cry out for censorship if that speech goes against thier particular world view. There are many eloquent quotes from our founding fathers on this subject, but the following from very recent history seemed to me to be very aprapo. I hold the basic freedoms granted to us by our Creator and recognized by the Founding Fathers of the USA more dearly than my need to be liked by all. So this may upset a few of you here but I won't compromise my core values to appease everyone at the table. I've heard the First Ammendment referred to with distain the last couple days. I'm sorry, but I hold it and the other 9 in pretty high regard. I refuse to censor opinions-- Even opinions that I despise. What we left at WR was the deleting, censoring, and editing of posts that the Top did not agree with nor want seen by others. I made it pretty clear that that was what I wanted to leave behind. We will not censor content. If you don't like it, don't read it. Debate it in an intelligent way. Debunk them. That's what discusson is all about- -----Melbo, founder and owner of Survival Monkey.com, 2006 I agree. That is what our founding fathers had in mind. Debate speech you do not agree with. Counter absurdity with rationality. Debunk myth with reality, argue largesse with logic. There was a recent thread on here touting the virtue of Jefforsonian debate. A lofty goal, but alas, it is a skill that eludes the intellectually challenged masses of today. When I was a boy I asked my late father, a Korean War veteran, what it meant to be an American. He thought a moment and answered "It means that I might not agree with what you say. I might not even like what you say. But I will fight and die, to protect your right to say it." Words of wisdom. Too bad that sentiment has been cast upon the scrap heap of history by mediocre minds. Those who lack the abilty to engage in rational debate. To intelligently oppose abhorant thought, to offer an insighful retort. They seek to silence with legality and restriction, that which they cannot silence with rationality and reason. Our nation is certainly in severe decline. I weep for the future. And it reminds me of the saying. "For evil to prevail, it only needs for good men to do nothing"
I could not possibly agree more, nor have said it any better. From my sig: "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably"
