Is It Free Speech If I Have To Pay For It?

I've noticed that free speech isn't valued all that much these days. What I mean when I say that isn't that people don't speak freely, half the time I wish they'd shut up. Rather, it seems people have to earn the right to say certain things, usually the things that are the most true. If they have paid their dues or joined the right club or have the right gender or color skin, they can say whatever they want and nothing happens. But if someone who hasn't earned their right to say something speaks up, all hell breaks loose.

Send a guy to a feminist gathering, say a NOW convention or something, and let him try to explain that the medical exception for late-term abortions should only include medical causes that have been diagnosed by a medical professional. Let's see, assuming he makes it out alive, it will be after he is called a misogynist, a brute, and told that he is propagating sexist stereo-types of hysterical women having abortions because of some random mood swing. Long story short, it wouldn't be pretty. Send a woman in with the same message though and no one would even notice. It would be, "I completely agree" or "Oh, well, I disagree with her but I respect her and her point of view."

Another example, I had a retail job a few summers ago. An old lady came to the convenience store where I worked and, as she was filling out her American flag printed check, asked what I was doing for July Fourth. Bad idea. I told her that I planned on boycotting it and mumbled a little about being unpatriotic. She said, and oh I love hearing this, "If you don't love our country, they just leave why don't ya?" I couldn't help but tell her, "Ma'am, I can't leave, I just got back from Iraq (I had been back about seven months at this point) and it would be too soon for me to go anywhere." And what did she say next? Not a damn thing. I shut her up because I had earned my right to free speech.

But here's my problem with that. Whether I put boot to ass for Uncle Sam or not, as an American, I am guaranteed the right to free speech (granted, there are some things that should not be legal, like hate speech, yelling fire or bomb in the wrong public place, or singing anything recorded by Celine Dion). Why do I have to earn the right to my opinion or the right to express it. Didn't all of our hallowed dead, who laid down their lives at Yorktown, Saratoga, New Orleans, Gettysburg, the Belleau Wood, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Korea, Vietnam, or all of the other countless and nameless battles we have fought, didn't they earn that right for us? What good is their sacrifice? What good was the sacrifice of my brothers and sisters in arms serving in Iraqi and Afghanistan? What purpose was served in their securing of our liberty if we so cheaply discard it?

Someone once said that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. I think it was Thomas Jefferson. Eternal vigilance doesn't mean having the biggest guns and the smallest minds, it means always being aware that ensuring liberty is about as easy as grabbing a rainbow or catching one's own shadow. Securing a free society means being willing to do the hard work, and it is hard work, that it takes to ensure that we don't become so careless that we trample our rights in our zealous pursuit of our self-involved interests or perceptions of security.

Bi-Stupid

I still have not fully made up my mind who I am supporting or voting for in November, so I try to keep an open mind and a shut mouth concerning the two candidates. But - and there's always a but - I recently got an email forward concerning Senator Barack Hussein Obama, complaining that he is not suitable for President for two reasons:
A. He does not have an "American name" (WTF???)
B. He identifies himself as African-American, not Bi-Racial

On the first point… Of course Obama isn't an American name. Neither is Barack or Hussein. For that matter neither is John or McCain. The names of the former senator are African and Arabic in origin and the origins of the latter names are Hebrew and Irish in origin. Could this objection be any more short sided or racist? Really?

Now, if we had a Sacajawea or an O-kuh-ha-tuh or a Pocahontas or a Geronimo running for President, that would be different. Those are good American names. But, since some people tend to assume that "hard-working" and "American" are synonyms for white, there is a problem. More specifically, the problem is nobody in the media or in politics has stood up and told the plain and simple truth, that there are still small-minded, racist idiots in our midst. Yes, that's right, some people are stupid. Sorry, the truth sometimes hurts.

And the other point, that Senator Obama is bi-racial not African-American… Does it matter? We are trying to decide if he should lead the free-world for four or more years, not where he sits on the bus. Seriously, fifty years ago, where would he have sat? Would he get to sit in front because his mother was white? Doubtful. Would he have to sit in back because his father was black? Probably. Would he get to sit in the middle because he is bi-racial? Are you kidding me? No, he would have been called a choice word or two, probably beginning with the letter N, and forced to sit in the back with all everyone else that didn't have an American name or a proper American heritage.

My experience is that most people who I know that raise these objections are old enough to remember segregation, frankly, most of them were well into being an adult when the civil rights movement started. I am inclined to think they opposed it. Now, here's a question. When someone who, as an adult, helped (through their action or failure to act) perpetrate segregation, who likely stood up against equal rights for anyone with a single drop of African blood (Homer Plessy, Plaintiff in Plessy v. Fergusson, was one-eighth black and he was legally discriminated against), and who probably stopped voting Democrat when the Democrats started supporting the Civil Rights movement, how can that person say, with any semblance of honesty, that identifying a half-black/half-white man as African-American is wrong? The term isn't bi-racial, it is mulatto. Guess what? Mulattos were forced to be slaves and were discriminated against under the Jim Crow laws. But now, less than fifty years later, we get all upset when a mulatto calls himself African-American instead of the white-friendly (read: oppressor-friendly) Bi-Racial. I believe the proper term is bull shit. Again, just callin' it how I see it.

If you want to know how good a leader is, look at the people he or she leads. Look at Senator Obama's strongest supporters, young people and college-educated people. The people who don't generally like him are less educated, older, and can't program a VCR. Why? Who knows… Could be that young people and those obviously immature professional types buy into all the media hype. Could be that they are a bunch of latte-drinking hippies who hate America and want the terrorists to win. Or it could be that maybe, just maybe, they see that his message of pure, unadulterated hope is the first that has been heard from a presidential candidate since Kennedy (of the John F. or Robert F. variety) and the most passionate since the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Does this mean that I'm voting for Obama? Not necessarily. But it does mean that I am going to need a real reason if I am going to vote against him.



Note: In order to illuminate the reader about my own ethnic heritage, I feel it is incumbent upon me to mention that I am about as white as a person can get - English last name, Protestant upbringing, raised in a military family (mostly on Army bases in decidedly red states), 100% USDA approved white Euro-mutt. The only way I could be more white is by preceding my name with an initial, following it with a numerical suffix (i.e. III, IV, LXIX), and joining a country club.

What's That Smell?

Candor is a vice, and an addictive one at that. I often find myself unable to keep my mouth shut when doing so would make my life far easier. But, like a junkie twitching in anticipation of his next fix, I blurt out what I really think when my thoughts are best left to myself. Oops.

This is made all the worse when I am confronted with what most people would call, and please pardon the vulgarity of the phrase, bull shit. I can smell it from a mile away and I believe that I am allergic to it. I blame my deployment to Iraq* (OIF III) for this. Now, there are some times, such as dealing with a boss or an incompetent restaurant employee, when I am content to just bite my tongue, keep my job, and not get my burger spit on. But in cases like those, tell it like it is. Don't tell me I'm smelling roses when it reeks of a steer's back end.

This brings us to the topic of this post - Fake Patriotism. It is bull shit and it pisses me off. We, as a Nation, are quick to go to Memorial/Independence/Veterans' Day Parades, shoot off fireworks, and wear Old Navy Flag t-shirts. Our car dealerships fly American flags as big as Rhode Island, our politicians must wear flag pins on their lapels, and though going to Church on Christmas or Easter is optional, missing the Fourth of July is the Eighth Deadly Sin. And all of that is fine and good - I will be the last to ever rain down on a party - if it accompanies authentic patriotism. Problem is, there is no accompaniment. We can’t even take care of our veterans and our Active/Guard/Reserve service members. We can make sure everyone is wearing the same color flag t-shirt at the BBQ though. Our priorities suck.

Yellow ribbon car magnets irritate me. If the person who is displaying it has a loved one serving our country, especially in harm's way, then my heart and sympathies go out to them and I thank them for their sacrifice as well as their loved ones'. But, from what I have seen and experienced, they tend to serve one of two purposes, most often both. One, they show support for a certain political affiliation over another. Two, they tend to make the displayer feel better about his or her self. The former reason is pornographic, the latter is pathetic. Don't rip our sons and daughters from their loved ones and send them into harms way just to feel better about putting a cheap little magnet on the back bumper of a gas-guzzling SUV.

There are far better ways to honor the service of our veterans. Pay for their counseling off the books, PTSD and combat stress are still stigmatized. Hire vets, don't just trash their resumes because they still have a Guard or Reserve obligation. Call up all the old Korea and 'Nam vets and let them know that they are appreciated too, granted this should have been done decades ago, and get them to get counseling. For the body politic, war is hell while it is being waged and, more importantly, while it is being paid for. For soldiers, it is hell long after the fighting stops. Civilians like to forget about this, so they just slap a magnet on their car and that is all the support they feel their soldiers deserve.

Better still, provide military families with livable quarters, decent schools (it is called impact aid and has been slashed in recent years), and pay that is commensurate with the sacrifices made by their service member. Appreciate the work that our Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airpeople(?) do in peace time as well as war.

Seriously, Patriotism is working to make this a country (and hopefully world) a better and safer place. If we can't be bothered to step up to the plate do that ourselves, can't we at least take care of those who do?



* I mention that I am a soldier to illuminate my own personal dealing and struggles. I am writing as a private citizen and my views do not represent those of the Army or other soldiers. If you want to know what they think, ask them. Just don't think that I speak for anyone but myself, and even that is, as I say, as a private citizen. I will sometimes deal with political issues and American soldiers are to be neutral, that is what separates us from places like Myanmar and Pakistan. Thanks.

A Day to be Independent

I am not a Patriot. Further, on this, the two hundred thirty-second anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I am not celebrating. That is not to say that I never was a Patriot - I once was. Nor is it to say that I have always been as contemptuous of the Fourth of July as I am now - it was my favorite holiday for most of my adolescence and early adulthood. But, alas, that has all changed.

Before I proceed, I will clarify some definitions, as it helps to know what we are talking about. To do this, I'll pillage the online dictionaries Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster.com to use whichever definitions sound most intelligent.

Patriot, from Dictionary.com - a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion

Nationalist, from Merriam-Webster.com - an advocate of or believer in nationalism

Nationalism, from Merriam-Webster.com - loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially : a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and
interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups

Here is one of the biggest problems I have with being a Patriot. It is nationalism that favors us over everyone else. This tends to amount to collective self worship, especially on days like today. Most of the wars of the twentieth century, the bloodiest century in human history by the way, were nationalist driven wars. WWI and Archduke Ferdinand, WWII and the Axis powers, the global pissing match we call the Cold War, the bloodbath formerly know as Yugoslavia... And we celebrate this kind of sentiment with hot dogs and fireworks?

Being a Patriot once meant serving our countrymen. The word we use today traces back to the Latin word for countrymen, funny how that happens. It was about signing up to serve in uniform, being active in supporting the community, about teaching civic virtue and responsibility. Working towards a more perfect union became a prerequisite for success in business, politics, and everyday life, rightly so.

But that notion has subtly given way to the darker meaning of the word, and no one seems to notice. So we follow the piper, whose rhetoric has vastly changed while the words stay the same. It is good to serve our fellow man or woman, but that isn't enough, we must serve them at the expense of those fellows in other countries or those in this country from another country.

And our interests? Those lofty ideals that we should lovingly and supportingly promote over all other interests? They once were life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; the belief that ALL men (and women) are created equally and have certain inalienable rights and that these rights are a birthright that cannot be abridged without their consent; the statement that we are a new nation, conceived in liberty; and that America is a land of hope and opportunity, where the tired, sick, and huddled masses yearning to break free could find rest, respite, and freedom.

Are these still our interests? Is this great experiment - government of the people, by the people, and for the people - still on track? Or have we submitted again to the old world order, where identity was based the dirt one was born on and not the dreams one aspired to? Have we sold our dreams in pursuit of our gain in a world where, increasingly, everyone loses?

I fear that we have given up and sold out, which I why I have given up and stopped shooting fireworks. And in a country where being unpatriotic is the highest form of blasphemy, I am the greatest sinner. Does this mean I don't love my country? Sure. Does this mean I don't support her interests? Ok. Does this mean that my devotion leaves much more to be desired? Fine, desire away. There was a dream that was America, a calling, a new world order that we were to establish. We were to be the shining city on the hill, the beacon of liberty for all to see and emulate. Our lot was to elevate everyone's lot. And if giving up the title of Patriot and foregoing the festivities on July Fourth are the price I pay to cherish that dream, to keep it alive inside me and pray that it will be renewed once more, then so be it. I'll love my country for what she should be, everyone else can love the harlot that she has become.