1st Amendment

This is the craziest thing that I have written in a long time.  Glen Beck is correct.  We must protect the 1^st amendment at all costs. I never agree with Glen; I find the majority of his positions to be reactionary hog wash, but in this case he is right on target until he attacks progressives for booing Nancy Pelosi on her stance in regards to Snowden and his release of classified documents.

At that point in his discourse, he goes on to attack progressive’s rights to free speech and states their rights should be curtailed because they are threat to his and his fellow conservatives’ right to say any and everything. He ruins a great idea in the last minute of his speech. The funny thing is that he or his minions seem to have no idea about the irony of the final statement or his hangers-on don’t have the balls to tell Glen what just happened to his argument.

Glen also refuses to acknowledge the efforts the right has taken to silence any and all who refuse to believe as they do. Look at what Rick Perry said about Wendy Davis and abortion as he tries to silence his detractors. I started watching Glen’s rant because he was defending Paula Deen and later Bill Maher. Both have been fired from high profile jobs for positions and statements they have made that many found offensive.

Within this rant, Glen makes another error in his assessment that neither aforementioned person should be fired for alleged or real comments made based on the 1^st Amendment. This could not be farther from the truth. I am no constitutional scholar, but I know that if your actions are deemed a detriment to a company, then, they can fire you. Guess what Glen that is what happened in both cases. 

Whether either or both of these people were fired for what they said is completely reasonable and actionable and has nothing to do with the 1^st Amendment. Companies get to create their own reasonable expectations concerning their employees’ employment.

I wonder how Glen would react if one of his employees exercising his free speech came out and attacked Glen and his belief system and revealed internal documents concerning Glen’s show. Would he fire said employee or take the high ground and say that all is good because of the 1^st Amendment. Don’t believe so.

Be that as it may be. Glen gets to say and believe whatever he wants.  It matters not what I think or anyone else thinks. He is protected under the 1^st Amendment. However, not all speech is covered under the 1^st Amendment. One example would be slander, another would be screaming fire in a theater when none exists.  Moreover, you may not threaten the president or other government officials without negative consequences, but you can attack people and say mean, nasty things to your heart’s content. Think about Westboro Baptist Church and their shenanigans.

Freedom of speech and the press and religion is a must for our country to thrive. Also, lively political discourse is a must. There must be two sides to our political battles. It is these differences of opinion that set us apart from other countries. Democracy is a messy business, and as I travel in the UK, I have seen and read about the political drama taking place here. Democracy is the great equalizer.

I am glad Glen is on the air. We need to hear all voices on all sides of the argument no matter how extreme. Glen is right when he is talking about the negative consequences of muting voices we find offensive. He is offensive though not the most on the right. As Glen would say, being offensive is our God Given Right. Ask Michael Savage or Howard Stern about freedom of speech.

This is America, everyone gets a chance to puke up any vile disgusting statement they please. Our founding fathers would be so proud of how far we have come to be inclusive. John Adams may not be so accepting based on his use of the Sedition Act during his presidency. Oh the irony.

Attack of the Governors

I look around me and try to figure out what people think is important in our world. So many are going crazy over the birth of a royal baby when on the same day in the UK, 650 babies were born into poverty. There is no news when it comes to the poor in our society. We all know that it is all their own fault. They are only looking for a hand out. They are not interested in working and providing for themselves and their families. Rick Perry likes to bring this myth to life in the Republic of Texas.

This is the back story to Rick Perry’s desire to end abortion as well as diminish the poorest of us to obtain food stamps or school lunch programs, yet he wants to give massive tax breaks to gun manufactures this makes total sense. The poor do nothing for the economy so let’s make sure that there are more babies born into poverty and take away services that might help them get out of poverty. On the other hand, let’s make sure that the government gives a hand out and up to the wealthiest. They need the extra help. Their profits for the shareholders need to go higher.

This is the beauty of our system. Government officials today take care of those that take care of them. This is quid pro quo at its finest. Good for Rick Perry. He has ginned up the system to work for him. Of course he is not the only one to do this, but he has one hell of a high profile. You will not be able to get pre-natal care or cancer screenings or an abortion if you are of a certain economic status, but the middle and well-to-do will still be able to get these same services even if they are inconvenienced a bit. Nice work Rick.

When you grow up with a silver or gold spoon in your mouth, it must be terrible to think that there are others that want to get something for free when they cannot contribute to your campaign or hook you up with a term on the board of directors of their corporation and a six figure salary. You’ve got to love modern politics. Rick you and George need to hang together. You can swap governor stories and Rick, you can drool over the fact that George got it done on the national stage and you face planted.

There is another former governor that is making headline with some of his own problems these days: Mitch Daniels. He is not for academic freedoms. He wants to dictate to his professors at Purdue and the Indiana public school system what they can and cannot teach. This is nothing new for Mitch.  He must think that he is still governor and can attack the academic community willy-nilly.  Hell, this is the kind of decisiveness that all universities are looking for from their leaders. Nice work Mitch.

I love all these egotistical assholes. They give me something to talk about. Keep up the good work gentlemen. In Mitch’s case, he gots to love email. Mitch, Mitch, Mitch you left a trail a mile wide. You want to teach history as if you were the victor. Nice try. You’re in academia, now. Make sure in the future when you converse with your right-wing tools you keep it on the down low. Did you forget that emails are public information especially when used on government time?

The beauty of the right-wing is that they believe that whatever they say goes. They see the world as their play thing and get really pissy when other people have a different idea as to how it works. They are used to trampling on the rights of all those around them. Watch all the ID laws that will now be enacted by GOP state legislatures in the name of fairness. These laws are as Orwellian as they can be. As Big Brother said in 1984, “Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength”. Nice job Mitch showing how to keep the other half down so that you can perpetuate your personal beliefs and impose them on an unsuspecting public. I guess we are not so unsuspecting anymore thanks to the fourth estate: journalists.