Among the greatest freedoms, for those of us who are lucky enough to enjoy any, is being able to freely speak one’s mind without fear of legal reprisal. There are exceptions, of course; certain things you cannot say about elected officials; riot-causing pronouncements in public places…things like that…but, for the most part, the freest among us have free rein. So, with the most mixed of emotions, I heartedly defend the utterances of the amoebic life form calling itself Ted Nugent and the intellectually challenged candidate for Texas Governor, Greg Abbott for reveling in its support and, well I’m at it, a big free-speech shout out to the never-disappointingly stupid Sarah Palin for weighing in with a few grammatically-challenged words that she may or may not actually know the meaning of.
However…indulge me while I fall upon my double-edged sword…
We are a species of big fat liars. We selectively filter our voracity to fit the comfort of our situation. (I think this is genetically ingrained, because it’s prevalent, even in barely speaking toddlers who could not have possibly acquired such social nuance). We embellish, mislead and invent out of whole cloth with little or no remorse, and our second-nature relationship with the truth has given license to preachers and pundits and random loudmouths to reach ovine-esque ears for personal gain or whim or both. (There’s not a lot of scientific research that goes into the creation of these postings, so I openly admit to being a member of genus ‘bfl’). We are, therefore, even those of us who try to stay legitimately informed, left rudderless in a sea of turbulent information. Wikipedia, (a make-believe reference source), is now the go to Rosetta Stone of, well…everything. Holy crap!
A solution like the Truth Police is simply too 1984, (although we seem to have already surpassed most of those Orwellean fears), and the idea that there could even be a truthful fire to which anyone’s feet could be held is preposterous. Do we simply agree that reality is an eye-(or mind)-of-the-beholder deal, pliant and interpretable? Does empirical reasoning lose out if, say the numbers of creationists slosh into a majority? Is the freedom to bullshit held so dear that the implied responsibility of having it, (using it sparingly), is trumped by our freedom to over indulge, as sanctioned by our right to mind altering addiction or to indiscriminately shoot each other as our founding fathers so clearly intended in the 2nd Amendment?
Ted Nugent is a talentless, chicken-head-biting, moronic fashion disaster!* Pass it on!
*(Note that I didn’t use the word ‘FUCK’, [I thought “fashion disaster” would be more hurtful], this week, even knowing I’m free to do so).