A conversation between two friends
Addison: Would you rather have bread or free speech?
Justin: Well, I guess bread.
Addison: Bah! I would rather starve than not be able to speak my mind freely!
Justin: (After thinking) Well... I guess you could eat your words.


I saw something as I was driving through downtown this morning that made me think. Athens certainly has it's share of interesting people... well, one of those interesting people, an older man, was standing on the corner of Broad and College holding a sign that read,
"I Love My Country. I'm Ashamed Of My Government."
This man was fairly raggedly dressed; he may not have showered in a couple of days; he looked a bit thin a little feeble, but he was out there holding that sign like he meant it.

And out of nowhere two police officers came up to him and began to question him and harrass him. Now, I was in my car so I don't know the full story. He could've done something seriously wrong, or they may have been trying to help him... but it certainly looked for all the world like they were chewing him out for picketing. It was something out of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The well dressed, well fed, bigger government goons abusing this poor old man for the untolerable sin of speaking ill of his government.
It was sad.

I think people have forgotten what freedom of speech really means. If you ask most people now... certainly if you asked most people just after 9/11, they would tell you that they liked the idea of freedom of speech, sure, but that they didn't mind the government taking it away in exchange for protection.
BULL SHIT

We as Americans have never known a lack of freedom of speech. It's easy to wax political and say that there are more important things than free speech when nothing you say is censored or contraversial. But try saying something that Big Brother doesn't like and then see how much fun censorship is.
America... America was founded by men who knew what it was like to not be free to speak, to write, to worship or to assemble in the way that they wanted. And they were unanimus in their idea that it would be better to die than to have to suffer like that at the hands of their own government. But we've all forgotten that. We've never had to endure that sort of thing, so we don't mind when the government takes that inalienable right away from us. We tell each other that it's worth it so that they government will protect us.
This is wrong. This is unAmerican. This is stupidity at its height.

There is not much that I believe is worth fighting for, but I think this is one.
I would rather be attacked 100 more times by terrorists than have Americans' freedoms taken from us.

I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
-Voltaire