Free Speech

By Norman Rockwell

I would like to believe that part of the appeal of this blog is that it stands up for free speech ... and doesn’t squelch dissenters in the comments section. I would guess about 90% of the comments here disagree with my post’s arguments ... usually responded to by my counter-thoughts. This is what keeps things free and interesting ... and eventually can iterate to truth.

Much of the internet today does not permit such free-wheeling dialog. Twitter, reddit, Facebook, etc. are becoming increasingly restrictive in the degree of woke dissent they will permit. What good is that after all? These social media sites become echo chambers and not sounding boards. Worthless! And, in my opinion, sadly anti-American.


STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Wanton Disregard

Most all legal torts involve wanton disregard of civilized behavior. wanton disregard for the truth, wanton disregard for life and limb, wanton disregard for public safety, wanton disregard for personal privacy wanton disregard for property tights and wanton disregard for national security.

Maybe we just ought to fashion a law making wanton disregard the crime of crimes ... so much simpler!

Quotable Quote

Those who strive for popularity at the expense of their truth and honor will find this adulation to be hollow and short-lived. — Anon.

Obvious Truth

The alphabet networks take to truth the way a fish takes to sand — Anon.


And Epstein didn’t kill himself.

Obvious Truth

Truth is too often the abused stepchild of a self-absorbed national media.

Religion

Every religion is founded on a basic human hunger for absolute truth in a world where all truth is unfortunately forever relative. — Anon.

Beard Stroking

Is truth absolute or relative? I would like to believe that is is absolute ... as would every person of faith around the world. But I think that most truths are relative. Truth lives only in a context and can be readily debunked beyond the limits of that context. This is how all the never-Trumpers can cling to their Russian conspiracy “crimes” when they are obviously false. These never-Trumpers refuse to venture beyond the borders of their constructed world. They must truly believe their chimeras ... otherwise their moral compass disintegrates.

And we Trump supporters often suffer a version of this same malady ... often trying to make excuses for Trump’s reality twisting for which he is constantly accused. I often hear myself silently repeating one of Trump’s famous lines, “We’ll see what happens,” when one of his actions comes up short. Yes, he makes mistakes ... many mistakes. But he, unlike many who despise him, has an uncanny ability to walk away from these accidents without a backward glance ... while much f the rest of the world stands around stroking their beards.

Truth

Truth can transmogrify itself from a will-o'-the-wisp into  a Leviathan in a microsecond. -- Anon.

A Republican Pol

There was a young girl from Dalith

Who was quite uncouth with the truth.

She drank and swore like a man

Then registered Republican,

And won her spurs at the voting booth.

Mendacity

Lies are good.  They add texture to the drab truth -- Anon.

Truth

Truth is a beautiful butterfly flitting from flower to flower ... just prior to a curious child pulling its wings off. -- Anon.

Social Justice

Current social justice warriors all too often leave their battlefields littered with  unintended casualties ... the most tragic of which is the truth.

Truth

"Truth is beauty, and beauty truth ..." -- Keats

Truth today is an endangered species. It has been driven to the hinterlands by the poaching politicians and the medacious media. Lying has become a performance art ... to be practiced and admired on national television and in the press. The more difficult the position to lie one's way out of ... the higher the judges' score. We are now experiencing an Olympics of lying ... with specializations evolving ... sprinters, heavy lifters, long-distance liars ... people who even are lying about lying.

Lying is so pervasive that, when a talking head or a politician tells the truth, it is like a bolt from the blue. And truth is often held hostage in our ivory towers. We are so unused to the truth that it often seems like a lie. "This truth cannot be true! Why it even reeks of common sense ... and wasn't common sense banished by presidential decree seven years ago?" Truth is so shining bright that it hurts one's eyes ... and we can't have our people becoming blind. Lies are much darker and easier to view and understand. Therefore, lies are good and the truth is bad!

You all know where this is heading ...

Truth

"Truth is beauty and beauty, truth."  -- Keats

(This blog entry is only tangentially related to the Rathergate movie, Truth.)

Truth is an elusive elfin sprite. She is a Tinker Bell caught in a typhoon of ignorance, self-serving mendacity, superstition and media obfuscation. And often when this genie is captured in a bottle, she turns to dust with new information. This is because truth in one narrow context may not hold in a broader milieu. For instance while "turn the other cheek" may be fine for the individual, it may not be the best policy for a nation. But universal truth-telling is essential for truly successful governance ... and it is a very rare commodity these days in Washington.

Thus I am currently inclined to use veracity as a yardstick to measure our roster of candidates for president ... and, to me, the greatest truth tellers are Jim Webb, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and Marco Rubio. Donald Trump might make the list if he constantly didn't engage of puerile put-downs of his Republican rivals. Guess who is on the bottom rung of this believability ladder ranking.among this bunch of wannabes? And, surprisingly, the one who captures my heart and my brain on the top rung is Dr. Carson ... for no other reason than he is willing to tell truths that go against the media meme ... and not back down when challenged.

Yes, my current favorite, if elected president, would find himself in a hornet's nest of backbenchers and backstabbers. But somehow I feel that he, like Abraham Lincoln, has the perspicacity to surround himself with learned deputies who would help him through the gauntlet of incompetence that is Washington.

In fact, if Ben Carson were lucky enough to make it as the Republican candidate, I would suggest he choose as his campaign's motto ... "The Truth Teller."