Back to Basics

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press is one of the rights we must hang on to.  Without those basic freedoms the country is in grave trouble.  You may not like or agree with someone, but that does not give you the right to take away their freedom to speak.

Millions of people watch Glenn Beck.  You may agree with him today and disagree with him tomorrow.  You may watch his show and think he is great – or you may think he is some kind of nut.  Either way, he has a right to speak his mind and you have a right to agree or disagree.

Although I do not watch the Glenn Beck show as I do not have cable TV, I watched a clip of the video that is raising such a controversy.  Glenn was stating his opinion of the president and how he handled the situation involving a friend of his and the police department.  His statements only reflected what many people have been thinking and they came to those conclusions by actions and statements made by the president himself!  Glenn’s statements made on that show were less offensive than Nancy Pelosi calling all republicans who oppose the health care bill Nazis!  But because Glenn is white and his comments are against an African-American, making these comments it is not acceptable.  After all, how can a black man be racist!

The group putting pressure on removing the advertising is totally a racist group.  They represent only the African-American population.  Yet companies cower to their Chicago style tactics.  How stupid can these companies get?  The show is one of the top rated TV shows and because some racist organization coerced them they are removing advertising from the Glenn Beck show.

Where does this stop?  Any company that pulled their advertising from the Glenn Beck show is not supporting our 1^st amendment rights.  Maybe we should ban them and any station or television show that supports their disrespect for our constitution!

No one forces you to watch television and you have the choice which shows you choose to watch.  Starting censorship in television is a very dangerous road to travel.  No organization should be allowed to have the power to encourage censorship.  No company should allow these same organizations to dictate where to advertise.  One day they may all find themselves on the wrong side of a censorship issue.

Anyone with any brains knows that the ads shown during a television show do not necessarily represent the views of those companies whose products are being advertised.  Do we need to have a disclaimer run with every ad making that obvious statement?  Is it wrong for them to want to get their advertising message out to as many people as possible?

Your support of the ban is an indication to the American people that you are involved in special interest groups.  If you don’t have the balls to stand up to them, then maybe the product you are toting or the company you represent isn’t one the people should be supporting.  Maybe it’s a good thing you removed your advertising so we aren’t exposed to it.  If we don’t see it, we won’t buy it!  Maybe you actually did us a favor.  For every person that may object to the show, there are just as many, if not more, that support it.  Start standing up for our 1^st amendment rights – otherwise you may find your company’s advertising being censored one day from some other special interest group.

“Free Speech:
Freedom of speech is protected in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights and is guaranteed to all Americans. Since 1920, the ACLU has worked to preserve our freedom of speech. Learn more and take action to protect the right to free speech.”

This quote was taken directly from the ACLU’s website, right off their home page. Yet when I checked their website I found nothing on the government’s blatant attempt at silencing our freedom from Linda Douglass’s communication on August 6, 2009. ACLU where are you?

The relationship with the ACLU might be described as a love/hate relationship. They are constantly in everyone’s face over every little infraction of the constitution. Depending on what side of that particular battle you are on you may love their efforts for standing up for what you believe in, or you may hate them for causing you so much grieve over something so trivial. They have served a purpose and got results. Where are they today? How could they remain quiet when the government is asking us to snitch on our neighbors, family and friends?

The White House has issued a warning to Americans.
From the White House.gov website:
“FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS”:
There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas challenged this action and has asked President Obama to stop this effort.
From Senator Cornyn’s Website:
SEN. CORNYN SEEKS ANSWERS TO PRIVACY CONCERNS; ALSO SUBMITS “FISHY” CLAIMS TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Friday, August 7, 2009
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, released the following statement responding to the White House’s claim that “no one is collecting any names” as well as their apparent refusal to make clear what steps they are taking to purge all names, email addresses and other personal information that they have collected on private citizens as part of their data collection program.

“Of course the White House is collecting names. As I wrote to the President, it is inevitable. Anyone with access to the flag@whitehouse.gov account has access to the names and email addresses that are collected in that account.

“The question is not what the White House is doing, but how and why. How are they purging names and email addresses from this account to protect privacy? Why do they need the forwarded emails, names, and ‘casual conversations’ sent to them instead of just the arguments that they want to rebut?”

Thanks for standing up for our rights Sen. Cornyn. But where is the ACLU?

I was finally able to locate a piece in an article published by FOXNews.com with only a two paragraph statement from the ACLU.

WHITE HOUSE MOVE TO COLLECT ‘FISHY’ INFO MAY BE ILLEGAL, CRITICS SAY
The White House has been under fire since posting a blog on Tuesday that asks supporters to e-mail any “fishy” information seen on the Web or received electronically.
FOXNews.com
Friday, August 07, 2009