Twilight in Northwest Georgia: Been' Wondering about Freedom of Speech

Thursday, January 14, 2021

Been' Wondering about Freedom of Speech

There are so many issues occupying our attention these days; political, medical and financial that I think we sometimes forget the root cause of the political turmoil; that Trump lied to the American people about the election results. Let me back off on that thought for just a moment.

I am not certain that Trump is lying. I think that he has his own reality...that he really believes that his was the greatest first term ever of any President, that Covid-19 is not as serious as is being made of it, and that he actually won the election. And if he truly believes it then he's not lying. He's mistaken but he's not lying. I can't explain the thinking of the millions of Trump followers who don't see that he's mistaken but that's not the subject of this post.

Questions are being raised about Twitter, Facebook and other platforms that have barred Trump from posting. Have they too much power? Are they limiting freedom of speech?

With freedom of speech comes responsibility. You don't shout 'fire!' in a packed auditorium. You don't announce that you're hijacking a plane in mid-flight (unless you're actually hijacking the plane). Saying that you're going to kill the President will get you some serious jail time. And if you're said President, you don't tell the public that you won an election that has been proven over and over again that you lost (here I think the public has some responsibility to examine the facts and use reason and judgement). And you don't use inflammatory language to incite insurrection. And you don't lie about Covid-19. People seem to have forgotten about a Trump pre-election rally where he said, "Covid! - covid! - covid! - covid! - covid!...that's all they talk about! After November 4th you'll never hear about it again!" Well, we're still hearing about it.

Freedom of speech should be about the non-violent expression of opinions including dissent. It should not include the willful spreading of lies or misinformation or incitement. That is why Trump was banned. Justifiably in my opinion.

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What this blog is about

Hi. My name is Tom. I am a long-time blogger, having started in my native Wisconsin some fifteen years ago and continuing during my ten years living in Peru. I all but stopped posting to my blog when my wife and I returned to the United States and moved to Rossville, Georgia in July of 2017. We don’t actually live in Rossville. We live in one of those census-designated places, a term I really don’t understand and am not interested enough to learn about. The only practical difference I can see is that the city does not pick up our trash.

I’m starting a new blog because my old one was Peru specific, and that was yesterday. I chose the title ‘Twilight in Northwest Georgia’ for two reasons: twilight because I am old and for me age is playing an ever-increasing role in how I view myself and the world around me. And Northwest Georgia for obvious reasons. It’s not a great title but it identifies and introduces what it needs to. Good enough.

This blog is not going to have a central theme…it’s not going to be about anything specifically. I like to write and will post about anything and everything that may interest me at the moment. I do know that my wife Maribel will be mentioned frequently because she is everything to me.

A comment here about my writing style and philosophy might be in order. We live in an era of political correctness…a time when the broadcast and print media, politicians, and petty people in general are lined up like vultures, eagerly waiting to pounce on anyone for the slightest faux pas, no matter how innocent and unintended. The media do it to sell their services. Politicians do it to advance their careers by degrading others. Petty people do it because…well…because they’re petty people. It is never my intent to be politically correct, politically incorrect, obnoxious or offensive. I can be critical and sometimes very critical but try my best to be objective. I do like to praise when praise is warranted. I do have pet peeves, am very opinionated and can be very vocal about them, which in the past has drawn the ire of some readers on my old blog. But that’s life. We all have different likes, dislikes, values and beliefs. The key is how we handle those differences.

The purpose of this blog is to provide a platform for me to write. I am opening it up to the public simply because someone may find something of interest in my ramblings. Any reader comments or criticisms, provided they are civil, are welcome.