New America Foundation: Double Take- Speaking on Freedom of Speech

Source:The Daily Review

At risk of sounding like a nationalist, but people right and left have debated whether America is exceptional or not the last ten years or so and debating what is called American Exceptionalism. Is America an exceptional place or not and if we are, are we exceptional in a positive sense. Do we represent as Americans the right values or not. Our First Amendment which of course is our guaranteed constitutional right to Freedom of Speech, is one example of why we are exceptional. Along with our diversity which is across the board and our other guaranteed civil liberties and constitutional rights.

No constitutional right is absolute and that includes both the First Amendment and the Second Amendment. But what it means is that Americans essentially have unlimited free speech and free expression rights and basically and unlimited ability to express ourselves and how we feel about things, places, issues, culture and even people. Short of inciting violence, violently harassing people, or falsely libeling people. And then others have the same right to express how they feel about us. Which means Donald Trump can run his nonsensical reality show disguised as a presidential campaign and say all sorts of garbage about groups of Americans. And the rest of the country has the same right to express out they feel about The Donald. The Captain of Reality TV.

Free Speech, is not a threat to America. The opposite is the truth, which is fascism in the form of political correctness, whether it comes from the Far-Left or Far-Right. That says the political correctness warriors knows best what is acceptable and unacceptable speech. And they’ll decide what people should think and what we can say. You can’t have a liberal democracy without free speech and a liberal right to free speech. Put all the views out there and then let the people weigh in on what the speakers and thinkers are saying. Correct the falsehoods, reward the truth tellers and critique the liars. That is how liberal democracy and free speech works. Instead of having some Board of Experts deciding what is appropriate and improper speech in a developed society.

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Galib Abbasov: Video: Malcolm X, Black and White 1972

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This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on WordPress

If it wasn’t for what Malcolm X fought for, for the African-American community as far as freedom and independence and trying to empower that entire community and free them from poverty, injustice and ignorance, then I probably wouldn’t have much respect if any respect for him. Because he used a lot of if not racist, certainly racial and nasty rhetoric towards Caucasian-Americans. And even though he did reform himself at the end of his life in 1964 or so after being exposed to more Caucasians-Americans as well as people oversees, he still said a lot of racial things that Caucasians probably couldn’t get away with.

Malcolm X is someone who I believe from the Center-Right in America, Conservatives and Conservative Libertarians, all the way over to the Far-Left can respect at least to some degree. Probably on the Far-Right which includes Americans of multiple races and ethnicities would say, “he was no good, he was a troublemaker, why should a Blackman have so much power?” That type of thing, but the Center-Right and Center-Left I think can if not respect the man because of what he was fighting for, for his community. Which was freedom and independence and moving his community off of public assistance though things like education, economic development, infrastructure.

Malcolm X wanted the African-American community to be a community of business owners. Small, medium and large business owners that would open their business’s in their communities and hire the people there. As well as working good middle class blue-collar jobs. His goal wasn’t integration and certainly not integration for the sake of integration. But he wanted freedom whether that meant getting that freedom living in separate communities from the Caucasian community. Or even living and working together, which by the time he dies he thought could work. With African and Caucasian-Americans living and working together.

Malcolm X was no Al Sharpton. Where he would use a lot of racially charge if not racial rhetoric to charge people up. And try to make Caucasians guilty and get them to give the African-American community more Welfare and other forms of public assistance. Malcolm X wasn’t about public assistance, but about independence. The ability for people to be able to live freely and not need government to take care of them. Which is where he separated from Dr. Martin King’s more social democratic movement that called for all sorts of new federal Welfare spending for the African-American community and Americans who live in poverty in general.

The Far-Left in America regardless of race would respect if not love Malcolm X because of how he talked about racism as it was directed towards African-Americans. And the rhetoric he used against racist Caucasians and Caucasians in general. Especially men, but they would separate from him back then like the Black Panther Party and today with Occupy Wall Street and other Far-Left movement’s when it came to economic policy. Because they don’t see public assistance and government dependence as bad things, even if it is indefinite. But as acts of compassion that, “this is how compassionate societies treat their people in need.”

So Malcolm X was someone who had broad appeal, respect, as well as hated across the political spectrum racial melting pot in America. He was loved for being a freedom fighter that literally wanted to empower an entire community of people to be able to live in freedom. And not to have to live with racism and injustice and be able to take care of themselves. But by his haters he was seen as a troublemaker and perhaps even as a troublemaker by people in the mainstream civil rights community that saw his rhetoric as unhelpful for their cause and movement. And one of the tragedies of his death is that it cost us an opportunity to see how he would’ve grown and be treated today.

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Real Time: Bill Maher and Panel- Talking About the U.S. Constitution

Source:Real Time With Bill Maher– Republican strategist Michelle Caruso Cabrera.

Source:The Daily Press

“Bill and his roundtable guests (Matt Taibbi, Kevin Smith, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, John Heilemann & Tavis Smiley), answer fan questions.”

From Real Time With Bill Maher

Unless you’re a real Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian or perhaps even Independent, chances are you generally like the U.S. Constitution. If you’re a so-called Progressive today Neoconservative or Christian-Theocrat, chances are you don’t like the U.S. Constitution. Because it constricts you from doing what you want the Federal Government to do and make it bigger.

Today’s Progressives would like to see the Federal Government get so big to the point, that it would provide a lot of the services that the private sector and state and local governments currently provide. The 10th Amendment and Property Rights, makes that a lot more difficult for them to do that. As FDR found out during the New Deal back in the 1930s.

So today’s Progressives who are really European Social Democrats, they would like to rewrite the U.S. Constitution to give the Federal Government more power. Including taking out some Constitutional Amendments, like the 2nd Amendment the Right to Self-Defense. And perhaps even amend the First Amendment when it comes to the media. They would like to see a public media, not a “corporate Media” as they would call it. And even be able to regulate hate speech in America.

As the Bush Administration found out, the U.S .Constitution got in their way when it came to indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. Neoconservatives would also like to amend the First Amendment so that it would only cover Freedom of Religion for Christians and political speech. Well that it is political speech, as long as the people are saying things they agree with. And would like to eliminate the Right of Privacy, the Fourth Amendment and perhaps a few others.

The Christian Right people I call Theocrats or better yet a religious cult, people who see marijuana as immoral, but have religious and political views that seem so out of space like they are on Fantasy Island and seem high on something illegal. Basically view people who don’t live their lives as they do, they are immoral and should be in jail or something and would love to amend the First Amendment to outlaw adult entertainment.

So the Christian Right can censor certain forms of entertainment they don’t like. Ban non-Christian religions and turn America into a Christian theocracy. Where life especially for women would become very restrictive with dress codes and that sort of thing. No more Right to Privacy, because now adultery and pre-marital sex, kids out-of-wedlock would be illegal. Pornography obviously illegal, alcohol and perhaps certain forms of dancing would be illegal.

It would be like living in Iran but a Theocracy like this, would make Iran look like a liberal democracy. That only 1960s Hippies could dream up in one of their pipe dreams. So converted Progressives and ex-Libertarians like Bill Maher, should think twice about calling for a new U.S. Constitution, because he probably wouldn’t like the results of it. If Progressives want America to become like Scandinavia or Canada, then they need a new U.S. Constitution to achieve that.

Today’s Progressives would need a new Constitution to establish all the democratic socialism. And to give the Federal Government all the power over us that they want to establish. If Neoconservatives want to make America like Russia, then they should move there or get into power and establish Martial Law, which is what happened in Egypt fifty years ago.

If Theocrats want to make America like Iran, well they should move to Iran, because they aren’t getting to the White House in America. No Presidential Candidate in America runs as a Theocrat and gets elected President. But for Liberals, Conservatives and Libertarians, we just need to defend, promote and speak up for the U.S. Constitution. To bring even more individual liberty than we already have.

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Marilyn Monroe: ‘It’s My Life’

Source:The New Democrat

Marilyn Monroe is not known for saying many intelligent things. Not saying she was dumb or anything because I believe the opposite is true but how she presented herself in many ways gave a lot of people the impression that she was a less than an intelligent person. Who may of had more than just depression issues, but she did have the ability to put things exactly as they should be put. Like when it came to life and her point in this photo is poetic and perfect.

That your life is your life and only yours and of course we all have people who care about us and want the best for us and all of that and that none of us live in a vacuüm. But at the end of the day our lives are exactly that and we and only we are responsible for all the decisions that we make and have to live with all the consequences of all the decisions that we make and if we only live our lives to fit and be cool. And not to stand out and never live as individuals and always as members of groups, then we aren’t living our lives, but we are living in order to please others and just to fit in.

I wrote a couple of blogs last week talking about that I believe that people have the right to make their own beds in life and then are responsible for living in their own beds that they make for themselves. And I meant a lot of that from a liberal political point of view and I meant every word of that. But this can also be used as a way of looking at life as well that we all have the right to make our own beds. So the beds we make for ourselves better be beds that are comfortable for us and beds that make us happy.

Doing what we want to do even if others do not approve of the beds that we make for ourselves. People shouldn’t be afraid to standout in life especially if they are happy and are productive with what. They are doing and are good caring people and so forth. Just because how they live, think or speak may be different from whatever the so-called popular will. At the time thinks different of how we are living our own lives.

Life has followers and leaders, people who follow the leaders and people who lead the followers. And that is generally how life works out with people who set trends. People who follow trends and people who may seem different but aren’t necessarily bad people. Or unproductive people, but good successful people who are simply different from how the establishment lives, speaks and thinks. But at the end of the day the followers, leaders, rebels and establishment all have at least one thing in common. That they all are responsible for their own decisions in life and are held accountable for them.
Bon Jovi Vevo: It’s My Life

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Bob Dylan & Joan Baez: 1963 March on Washington

Source:Reuters– Joan Baez and Bob Dylan performing at the 1963 March On Washington.
“Singers Joan Baez and Bob Dylan perform together during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in this August 28, 1963 file photo shot by U.S. Information Agency photographer Rowland Scherman and provided to Reuters by the U.S. National Archives in Washington on August 21, 2013. In the coming week, Washington will play host to an array of events marking the 50th anniversary of the march and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
REUTERS/Rowland Scherman/U.S. Information Agency/U.S. National Archives (UNITED STATES – Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY ENTERTAINMENT) ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS”

From Reuters

“Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the Freedom Singers, and Len Chandler performing ‘Eyes On The Prize’ at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28th 1963. The song is a well-known folk song largely associated with the Civil Rights Movement.

Source is straight from the archives, albeit covered with a logo and timestamps.”

Source:History In Motion– Eyes On The Prize performed by Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, and others.

From History In Motion

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez 1963 March on Washington. Acesse:Laura Chiatti.”

Source:An Blog– 1963 March On Washington.

From An Blog

Eyes On The Prize is the perfect song I believe to close out the 1963 March On Washington, because it told the American Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King and his followers not to lose focus and that there’s still much work to do.

Keep in mind, this is in the late summer of 1963 in Washington, when it’s still hot and humid around there and a few months before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and just a couple months after President Kennedy publicly endorsed the civil rights legislation that was in Congress.

The 1964 Civil Rights Law hadn’t even been passed yet, that didn’t happen to the summer of the 1964. Which meant African-Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities could still be denied their constitutional rights and access to American society simply because of their race or ethnicity.

I think what the summer of 1963 is about with the March On Washington sort of being the Super Bowl of that summer (even though the Super Bowl was 4 years away) is that to paraphrase Bob Dylan: times were a changin. I believe the 1950s finally ended in the summer of 63 culturally and a lot of younger Americans recognized the new America where America would be for everyone. Not just for Anglo-Saxon males.

The civil rights movement was part of the new America, but Hippies come into force politically and culturally in 1965 with so many Americans now feeling the freedom to be themselves and not have to live and think just like their parents and grandparents.

You can also se this post on Blogger.

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ICNA Chicago: ‘The Life of Malcolm X’

Source:ICNA Chicago– from a documentary about Minister Malcolm X.

Source:FRS FreeState

“America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem.” Malcolm X

Islamic Learning Foundation* Presents:

THE LIFE OF MALCOLM X… a class
Taught By: Imam Siraj Wahhaj

Saturday February 3rd ~ 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Location: Islamic Foundation 300 W. Highridge, Villa Park, IL 60181
Register: http://www.ymsite.org/mx or http://www.ICNAchicago.org
Registration Fee: $10 Student, $20 Adult
Includes course materials, multimedia presentations, lecture, food, interactive web forum, and articles.

Details: Covering the life of Br. El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X), with special emphasis on his last years and some of the many lessons we need to extract from his life.

S p o n s o r e d b y :
-Islamic Learning Foundation islamiclearningfoundation.org
-Young Muslims http://www.ymsite.org
-ICNA Chicago: http://www.icnachicago.org

“I am and always will be a Muslim. My religion is Islam.” Malcolm X
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” Malcolm X

*Islamic Learning Foundation is a department of ICNA and Young Muslims”

From ICNA Chicago

Malcolm X, represents to me many ways what the American Dream and what that is and should be. Someone who started from very rough beginnings, essentially came from nothing and worked his way up in life. And got so far, that people actually saw him as a threat, or his message of freedom and responsibility, not just for African-Americans, but for all Americans, as threats.

By the time Minister Malcolm died, he believed that people should be judged as people. Who moved towards Dr. Martin King when it came to civil rights. By the time he died, even as a young man he was in prison and at one point was even a racist who saw all Caucasians as racists or “White Devils”, and not just as people and not just the people. And not just the racists, but all Caucasians.

But once Malcolm left prison and left the Nation of Islam, he got himself educated and started hanging out with Caucasians that weren’t racist and believed in similar things. And learned better and that perhaps he could work with them so they could all accomplish the same things. That all Americans should be treated equally under law and not be held down because of their race.

I wrote a post arguing that Malcolm moved to believing in racial tolerance a few months ago. But Malcolm X’s message was about freedom and responsibility, that people shouldn’t expect to be given things, that if we wanted to achieve anything in life and be successful, that we had to go out and achieve those things and not settle for failure.

Malcolm believed that people, shouldn’t settle for poverty, or anything else. That the way to avoid these things, we’re to go out and get ourselves educated, work hard and be productive. Rather than expect government, or anyone else to hand us those things. Which is why I believe if Malcolm X were alive today, he would be a Classical Liberal Democrat or Conservative, not exactly registered to either party. But he would have that mindset, that people shouldn’t expect government, or other people to take care of themselves. But they needed to be able to do that for themselves, if they expected to be successful in life.

Had both Malcolm X and Martin King lived a natural life (meaning they didn’t die at a young age and lived into their senior years and not have been murdered, or killed, but died through natural causes) America would be a much different country and not just for African-Americans. Both of them would’ve helped a lot of people who weren’t free to live their own lives. Be able to achieve those things for themselves by preaching the message of individual freedom and personal responsibility through education.

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Sarah McLachlan: ‘I Will Remember You’

Source:Sarah McLachlan– seems unforgettable to me.

Source:The Daily Press

“Sarah McLachlan – mv – i will remember you
one of my favs. From her album Rarities, B-sides & Other Stuff (1996)
or you could find it on The Brothers McMullen soundtrack (1995 Seamus Egan Edward Burns)”

From Sarah McLachlan Fan

Not a better message for this Memorial Day or any other Memorial Day.

Source:The Daily Press– As much as we’re supposed to love and celebrate Memorial Day and have such a great time on it that perhaps we forget all about it the very next day, it really is the day that we should remember everyone who fought to gave us that freedom and protect our freedom and even gave their lives so we can keep our freedom.

The United States takes one day out of the year officially to remember and celebrate everyone who has served our country in combat and in our services. And the people who gave their lives and health, to serve their country and to protect everything that we value as a country. Which is our freedom, the ability for Americans to live our own lives.

Memorial Day is not about weekend sales or parties or cookouts or the unofficial start of summer, in at least the Mid Atlantic and Southeast. And the first good opportunity to go to the beach. We just do those things as Americans to celebrate Memorial Day. We use our freedom to do the things, to celebrate Memorial Day, that our veterans have their gives lives and health, to allow us the freedom to, throw a party, go to a party, go to the pool, or go to the beach.

Memorial Day, isn’t about perhaps the best three-day weekend of the year. It’s about the freedom to celebrate that day and that weekend and about the sacrifices that our veterans have made.

Our veterans have made those sacrifices and are still doing that today, with all of our troops around the world, so we can have the freedom to celebrate that day, those three beautiful hot days. (At least where I live) That we can enjoy, because we have the freedom to enjoy them, because of what our veterans have sacrificed to give us that freedom.

So as we are celebrating this beautiful great day, going to our cookouts and parties, going to the pool, going to the beach, take at least a moment to see why you are able to do those things and remember that Memorial Day is not Party Day, it’s not Cookout Day, it’s not Beach Day.

What we do to celebrate Memorial Day are things that we do to celebrate and enjoy what is Memorial Day. And that we wouldn’t be able to celebrate Memorial Day if it wasn’t for the sacrifices that our veterans and their families have made so we do the things we do to celebrate Memorial Day.

I promise this will be the only political thing I say on this post, but if there’s one day that we as Americans can come together and to celebrate, even as divided as a country that we are and have been for a while now, it should be Memorial Day. Because Memorial Day is about celebrating the people who have made it possible. For us to disagree and even be disagreeable with each other as a country.

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Alan Alda: ‘Through The Wisecracks’

Source:Venus– the great comedic actor and comedian Alan Alda, as U.S. Army Captain Benjamin Hawkeye Pierce, from CBS’s MASH.

Source:The Daily Press

“M*A*S*H – Season 11 Episode 5 – WHO KNEW
Hawkeye gives a serious eulogy for new nurse Millie Carpenter, who we never see and no one really knows. She is killed overnight by a land mine after a date with him.

This episode is written by Elias Davis and David Pollock and is one of nine episodes directed by the late Harry Morgan (Col. Potter). I love how they replace the laugh track with the singing and chirping of birds.

PSALM 23
A Psalm of David.
THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

From Venus

“Alan Alda was the leader of the wise cracks, I think we can all agree on that.
Yet, from time to time, he would turn from “shallow cut up” to “deep personal reflection”. We often remember the quick one liners, so let’s take a walk into the serious side of the Hawkeye character.”

From MASH Fan

“They say with age come wisdom so therefore I don’t have wrinkles, I have wise cracks!!”

Source:Spice of Life– good quote about sarcasm.

MASH, is my favorite sitcom of all-time, because of the writing and Alan Alda is one my favorite comedic actors of all-time. But also because of the writing, they could find humor everywhere and it was humor that you hadn’t heard before. Which is my style of humor. They would see a situation, or somebody and right away spontaneously find the humor in it. Rather than borrowing a line from someone, or something else.

A lot of the sitcoms and movies today, they find something that works like in a focus group and they repeat over and over, in show after show and movie after movie. So you wind up hearing the same lines on the street, because they heard those lines on some show, or movie they just saw. Rather than thinking for them self. Hollywood’s gotten lazy with its humor, so the people on the street have gotten lazy with there’s. That’s just not me, my humor is spontaneous, off the cuff, from my own brain, rather than someone else’s.

If you were to classify my sense of humor, I would tell it’s Captain Benjamin Hawkeye Pierce. Not saying I’m as funny as either Hawkeye or Alan Alda (I’ll let you decide for yourself) but that’s my sense of humor. I see things and try to look for the funny side of them, even if they’re really serious and even dangerous. Not to make fun of people or bad situations and try to make them seen less serious than they are, but to try to show people the funny side of a person or situation. And to let people know that it’s not the end or the world can we or you can get through this.

Not every situation deserves or should have a funny side, but without humor, I’m not sure life is worth living, because there’s so much bullshit that we all have to live with and if we can’t make fun of it, we might as well all check into mental institutions or look for the nearest bridge to jump off.

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Tom Cochrane: ‘Life is a Highway’

Source:Jessica Seiler– from Tom Cochrane’s song.

“Life is a Highway: I want to ride it all night long. It’s in my blood, it’s all around. Just tell em we’re survivors.”

From Jessica Seiler

I’m a laid back guy who believes that the happier you are in life the better off you’ll be. The less people you’ll piss off, the more people will like you and the better you’ll live and the longer you’ll live.

I’m a laid back guy who believes that life is not about whether you face tough times, or not or get knocked down or not. Thats a part of life, it happens to everyone. The question is whether you accept your reality and complain that life is unfair, or do you get back up and fix your reality. I believe that every problem that people faces in life can be overcome. It’s just a matter of finding a solution and keeping your cool. Don’t complain about the problem itself, just fix it.

If people can just take deep breaths & remember to breathe, they’re automatically better off because that relieves stress. Life is not supposed to be easy or hard. Life is what you make of it for yourself and about the choices that you make and what you do with the opportunities that you have. And in many cases those opportunities aren’t given to you, but you have to go out and make them for yourselves. I’m not saying this is exactly what Tom Cochrane is saying here, but that’s the message I get from life is a highway and you need to do the best with it that you can.

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