The problem with free speech is...

That some people can’t seem to stand it.

Case in point.

Simple enough. A newspaper editorial places forward its’ opinion about the presidential candidates, and supports John Kerry. Sounds fair, right?

Oh wait, no. The newspaper is situated in Texas, and while I’m nto too entirely sure where it is located, I believe it is in Bush’s hometown. Whoops.

Thus, the next editorial talks about all of the mail they have recieved, from the Bush and Kerry camps. Many intelligent… and some bordering on the ludicrous. Apparently some of thier employees have been threatened because of this as well.

Some of them seem to be just outraged that a newspaper, much less a Texan newspaper, would have the “audacity to take a public position against our President” and “that the days when newspapers publish editorials without personal repercussions are over”.

Wow. Well, I suppose freedom of speech is alright as long as the other guy agrees with you, right?

One wonders if some Republicans are wondering why thier “allies” are so bent on making them look so fucking stupid. Oh well. Thanks though guys. You’ve just reinforced my belief that I should take over this world due to the fact that I am intellectually superior to the majority of the population. And that is not a good thing.

I don’t intend insult to actual intelligent Texans, but I’m starting to wonder if the succession of Texas might actually be a good thing. It might even be a good idea to force it.

First of all, I did get this secondhand, with links. I thank VelvetBlood of GAFF for finding this little bit.

Texas Sucks.

That is all.

It’s called Fascism, except that when you do it right, the people aren’t supposed to notice it.

God fucking shitdamn! There are still people loyal to Bush? That fucking makes me cry, and my country’s not even the one being internally raped.

As a Vietnam Veteran and after reading your editorial, I can’t come to your same concussion. My VA benefits have not been cut and I now get better care at the VA hospital then i have in the past and as far as military pay goes it also keeps going up so do my benefits. So where are you coming off cutting down the VA system or the military pay system ,Do you go or get care at a VA Hospital ?
As for overtime, The small guy still gets overtime,it wasn’t eliminated but overtime by salary employee who make $100.000 a year don’t need overtime,and overtime is abused by employees anyway.
Why don’t you get Kerry’s and his wife’s company to quit buying products for it business from oversea companies and How many tax cuts did it get? Businesses have been going overseas for a long time,its not a problem which started when Pres. Bush took office. Do you think you can hire anyone to work in your office for less than $6.00 an hour? And still you want the minimum wages to go up, the bottom line in any busniess is profit and if wages go up the next thing is to cut positions sample fact. Who on Kerry’s team wrote your editorial ?Better open your eyes.
EH
Amarillo,Texas
Oh my GOD. Someone would pose as a war veteran merely to immitate credibility and throw personal insults in a fucking lie-filled letter to an editor? I can never respect texans again. EVER. Except Dai.

i think this is the most appropriate thing to post right now.

:moogle:

hmmm. so far i only follow 1 of those rules. i need to work on that i suppose

Meh, what else is new. Free speech has always been challenged and will continue to be challenged.

More Americans support Bush than Kerry according to… well, ALL the polls. So get ready to cry an awful lot.

And I can’t believe you don’t respect Mr. Saturn. Hang your head in shame.

Anyway, StarStorm, what’s your point? You said it yourself, we have freedom of speech. Those Republicans have every right to say whatever the hell they want. And you have every right to be pissy and write an angry rebuttal in response to them voicing their opinion. I don’t see what you’re making a big deal about though. I read through a lot of those editorial responses and I didn’t see anything unusual about them. Just the same basic political bitching you can hear in any opinion paper in any newspaper in the country. I find it especially amusing that you hand-pick a couple of zealots from a group of otherwise average conservatives, and then use these examples to demonize ALL conservatives (or in this case, Texans). That’s an underhanded tactic that Michael Moore often uses in his documentaries (if you can even call them that) as well. But you’ll probably take that as a compliment. =P

It does make me wonder, however. If the newspaper had written an article in support of Bush, and a bunch of readers wrote in bashing bashing the writer with the same zeal and telling the writer that he was crazy for not supporting Kerry, would you have still made this topic? Hmmmmm…

  • Anyway, StarStorm, what’s your point? You said it yourself, we have freedom of speech. Those Republicans have every right to say whatever the hell they want. And you have every right to be pissy and write an angry rebuttal in response to them voicing their opinion. I don’t see what you’re making a big deal about though. I read through a lot of those editorial responses and I didn’t see anything unusual about them. Just the same basic political bitching you can hear in any opinion paper in any newspaper in the country. I find it especially amusing that you hand-pick a couple of zealots from a group of otherwise average conservatives, and then use these examples to demonize ALL conservatives (or in this case, Texans). That’s an underhanded tactic that Michael Moore often uses in his documentaries (if you can even call them that) as well. But you’ll probably take that as a compliment. =P

I was demonizing Republicans? Isn’t it a little LATE for that? Ahem, anyways, I do know it’s within my freedom of speech to act outraged about it, as well as it is thier’s. But one would say that threatening the reporters for working there is a leeetle bit much. My point still stands, however: to many people, it seems that freedom of speech is ok when they other guy agrees with you.

And yes, I am well aware I am guilty of that.

  • It does make me wonder, however. If the newspaper had written an article in support of Bush, and a bunch of readers wrote in bashing bashing the writer with the same zeal and telling the writer that he was crazy for not supporting Kerry, would you have still made this topic? Hmmmmm…

Heh. Point granted. Although, in my defense, I haven’t seen an article about a newspaper in Kerry’s hometown getting threatened because the editorials supported Bush. Show me one, and I promise I’ll get as much annoyed and promise that if I rule the world I’ll nuke the damn state.

I agree. And I would be so bold as to say that you fit quite nicely into this group of people you’re talking about, since you’re getting as (if not more) bent out of shape about mere disagreement as any of the people you are referring to.

Also, what threats are you referring to? I saw some pissed off people, but no threats. Most people that wrote in seem to be agreeing with the article, so you should be happy, rather than trying to oppress the dissenting minority.

The problem with free speech is some people use it to ruin others lives. Nod Nod

If I were born 3 years earlier, my vote would be for Bush.

My respect for Hiryuu has like tripled.

The problem is with free speech is that there are too many idiots that either A.) abuse it, B.) don’t know how to use it right, or C.) are too stupid to be allowed to use it. I’ve seen Trotskyan (spelling?) Commies that haven’t made a lick of sense based on what their pinko idol preached, which violates b and c. I’ve also seen “patriots of America” that don’t even know our history or the true meaning of freedom of speech, which also violates b and c. Many people try to push their agendas too much whenever they get the chance i.e. celebrities and activists, violating a. Freedom of speech is good and an incredibly idealistic value that I enjoy, but all in moderation and when I can put my money where my mouth is.

I believe we have mutually come to that conculsion, Hiryuu.

And I believe the threats would be mentioned in the second editorial.

The mantra of free speech: Free speech isn’t made to support what you like; it’s made to support what you don’t like.

Texas was taken in hardest when the “Wave o’ Patriotism” hit after 9/11. Unfortunately, like most of the country, they were swallowed by the “blind loyalty” style of patriotism (just do as the President says, and kill anyone who opposes). Much of the country has woken up since then, and are refusing to support Kerry simply because he has no stance on anything. However, Texas is still filled with blind loyalty to Bush, and thus are destroying any sense of freedom they may have had.

And that, my friends, is why we must destroy Texas. I swear, doing so will raise the average IQ of the entire human race about fifty points.

YOU ARE GUILTY OF THOUGHT CRIME. PREPARE TO BE TAKEN TO THE PALACE OF JUSTICE FOR PROCESSING.

¬_¬

No…Texas would be decent to get rid of, but it behooves you to carpetbomb Hollywood first. Celebrities are perhaps the most annoying political voice ever.

I find myself in agreement with Rommel. Madonna and Bono must be silenced.

Leave Bono out of this. He has nothing to do with this and has actually got things done about the third world. Good things too, that don’t involve carpet bombs at all. The fact that he’s slightly idiotic has nothing to do with it.