Posted by
J-Dawg on Friday, May 11, 2007 5:39:06
It is only fitting that I embark on this journey on a subject that is indirectly canine-related. That would be wolf. Crying 'wolf', to be precise, and the crying is getting unbearably loud.
'Freedom of Speech'. The phrase almost leaves a bittersweet taste on the tongue. I'll preface this endeavor with a disclaimer of sorts: if my fellow countrymen believe strongly enough in everyone's freedom of speech that they are willing to die for it, I have absolutely no problem with it. That ought to take care of the moonbat snipers. Onward.
By now everyone and their grand-maw has heard about the Opie & Anthony debacle regarding the Secretary of State. I've never listened to these guys, nor am I inclined to. My understanding is that they are of the ilk of the dregs, fart jokes, crass humor and scatological drivel. As such, I could care less what they, or anyone they may be inclined to host,might say, truly, even when it involves raping of Secretary Rice. Face it, some of us have standards and some of us don't.
But what motivated me to comment on the story at all was a read of the Neal Boortz column calling for their heads; or rather, the commentary that followed. I sincerely believe that I have never seen the phrase 'Freedom of Speech' fly as much as I saw it there. The wolves in all their glory. Among the calls for Boortz' head and typical Pavlovian panting, the phrase must have been thrown down at least 30 times. Most distressing, was the fact that among all the calls for FoS, not one minute reference to the associated responsibility that , obviously to me, come with FoS and all the rest of the F's. I did mention that I found the use of the term 'entertaining' as scary, given the subject that sparked the whole charade, but noone gave responsibility a nod. Now, I'm not naive enough to think that a sermon on the Rights/Responsibility argument would even be taken seriously ( I mean we ARE talking about moonbats, for the majority), but I found it sad. The phrase has lost it's meaning. Among all the PC commandments and fragile feelings, 'Freedom of Speech' has become meaningless, a pathetic catchphrase, a cliche of convenience.
We have gone from John Zenger's libel trial, to the Alien & Sedition Acts to the Emancipation Proclamation... to raping Condi Rice. What once had a meaning, a profound impact on the lives of all americans, is now but the babbling of a couple of tasteless twits. I'm no scholar, and I don't pretend to be any more knowledgeable about the Bill of Rights, all of it's subtleties & textures, than any other joe. I do think its a damned shame that people who pine for the freedom to say what they want to say give zero consideration to the repercussions of their words.