Freedom Of Speech

How To: Discuss Freedom Of Speech

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.

I wanted to have a quick Freedom of Speech lesson before people get all up on Twitter and Facebook screaming about “Have you ever heard of FREEDOM of Speech, how’s come Roland Martin is in trouble for tweeting to bitch-smack all the gays in the room!!??”

Roland Martin and every other person in this country have the right to say whatever crap they want. Those inbred cult freaks from that church I don’t even like to mention cause they get enough attention, THOSE people have the right to say whatever made-up baloney they want about our American Soldiers. Mel Gibson has the right to get drunk on wine coolers and then spew off every racial and misogynistic stereotype he can think of to a police officer (but not to drive after drinking the wine coolers.) My coworker had the right to send a petty email regarding a personal disagreement to another coworker and then copy the entire department and our boss. You always have the right to say whatever the heck you want, but it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to deal with the consequences of those words.

This common misconception (that Freedom of Speech means that everyone has to be in love with everything you say) always makes me think of a Dixie Chicks concert I went to many moons ago. Ah Dixie Chicks, where have you been in my life lately? Anyway, they had a video running during one of their songs with images all relating to the topic of Freedom of Speech. One section showed angry Americans stomping on and burning Dixie Chicks CD’s and posters. See, this was right after Natalie Mains had stated how she was ashamed to be from Texas since W was also from Texas. The point of the video was that she had the right to say whatever she wanted; however their fans also have the right to not buy their music because of it.

Think of it this way, someone has a right to walk up to you, tell you that you smell like Mel’s poo truck (Hi Mel, I bet you are reading this!) and that your baby is the spawn of satan. And then you have the right to not want to be their friend anymore. Like I would ‘unfriend’ them on Facebook and probably stop texting back. Even if you want to get in the last word, just stop texting otherwise you stoop to their level and it’s just petty. Anyway…

So, since Roland Martin tweeted during the Super Bowl about how naked guys gross him out and make him violent (although now he is saying that he was just making fun of Soccer, so um, you can believe that if you want) then the pressure from GLAAD and other organizations who represent minorities can cause his employer to decide to fire or reprimand him. That is a potential consequence of his actions.

And as for those who think our Nation is getting too “Politically Correct.” Tell that to my face next time you see me. GLAAD is constantly making this country better for my friends and me to live in without getting gay-bashed at work or in our neighborhoods. I love political correctness and all those it protects. I don’t want to go back to the days when women had to listen to dudes at work talk about their Penis and/or have them ask them out. No thanks.