Free Speech

I meant to write this thought awhile back, so the topic is a bit dated.
It all started with Imus and his senior moment lack of judgment.
Then the P.C. contagion spread to other radio personalities, and finally to Opie and Anthony being suspended from XM Satellite Radio, yet, were left on "terrestrial" radio.
I'm not going to discuss right and wrong, or even if the disciplinary action was appropriate.

The needle in my throat is the constant application of "Free Speech" to these situations.

Let me start off by saying I enjoy listening to frank dialog; I subscribe to Sirius and listen to just about every minute of Stern, just about every day. It's difficult to explain exactly why, but free speech in Howard's case makes for superior radio. All radio should be so thoughtful, entertaining and yes at times completely salacious. I would like very much to see all FCC restrictions lifted from all broadcast media, and I don't really care if your child hears "fuck" on TV either.

However, the free speech argument is really not properly applied in this case. The First Amendment guarantees our right to free speech, but it does not relive us of the consequences brought about by that speech. Freedom of speech is protected against censorship by the government, and that's it. If the FCC demanded the suspensions/firings, then it would be a different story.

The distinction is fine but important; free speech as an ideal versus free speech as an enumerated right. We've all been told "with freedom comes responsibility" and that rings true here.

What bothers me the most is the complete ignorance of most Americans about the fundamental concepts and workings of the Constitutional Republic. I think Thomas Jefferson was easily on par with Socrates and Einstein. What we were given in 1776 is a truly elegant and powerful paradigm, and it is absolutely criminal that it is largely ignored, or worse twisted through ignorance to fit one's political goals.

Americans need to start understanding what it is to be American.

Welcome restless souls

I decided to start this blog one night watching "Operation LiveCrime" on VH1 classic.
Fellow 30-somethings will know it well...
Even if you were not even born in 1988 when Operation Mindcrime came out, and even if the thought of leather pant-clad, big hair havin mf'ers makes you cringe, it's worth a look for eerie lyrical truths from nearly 17 years ago (damn I'm old).

Specifically this line from the song "Speak" hit home:
"Seven years of power
The corporation claw
The rich control the government, the media the law
To make some kind of difference
Then everyone must know
Eradicate the fascists, revolution will grow"

I remember back then as a junior in high school, this album was a neat 'story', it was the turn of the decade and things were swell. The economy was good and after a childhood of near-constant fear of nuclear annihilation at the hands of the 'commies', things were finally calming down.

Now I hear this and I don't see a story, I see prescience, and the fear of annihilation is back in my heart. Only now the scourge is not from some far off foe, but from those who have hijacked my Republic.

To borrow a fitting cliche: I'm mad as hell and not going to take it an longer.

I am now channeling the ghost of Thomas Paine.