It's
Thursday here in the land of the free and home of the brave and I offer you a warm handshake with a southern hospitality welcome here on this
June 13, 2013. Land of the free. That's one that's getting a lot of attention over the last several weeks. The graduations we attended expressly stated that the speeches of the students were their own thoughts and the school had not imposed limitations on them about what they could talk about or say. I would guess they no doubt had some general guidelines. However, many folks are upset because a valedictorian in South Carolina threw away his prepared remarks and instead quoted the Lord's Prayer. In doing so he had defied that school system's prohibition against any religious expression. Another scholar in North Texas also set aside his approved remarks and began to speak about his freedom of speech rights under the First Amendment. The school promptly shut down his microphone. In both these cases the students had broken the rules regarding the content of their speeches. I suppose that begs the question. Are these types of limitations on the rights of these kids a good thing or a bad thing? I do know that if a kid had gotten up and given Lucifer the Devil credit for his success there would no doubt be a huge outpouring of response to that. My take is this: Somewhere in all of this maze where political correctness reigns, the fundamental freedoms and values we stand for must be upheld. And, I know that school officials throughout our land do not have an easy job in trying to find the appropriate balance.
At the same time we continue to learn the vastness of our government's all seeing eye, as they, in the name of protecting us, collect more and more personal information including any and all digital communications. I do not know all the details regarding these most recent revelations. But, one thing is clear. The young man who leaked them violated his sworn word to keep confidential these national secrets and many have said that Americans and our friends throughout the world are put at risk as a result of his actions. That means he must be dealt with based on our laws. As to what he revealed, there may need to be appropriate review and where needed, changes made that protect our nation while giving full respect to our inherent rights as citizens. Washington I fear is ill prepared to do this in a balanced way. How do we know this? Most of the Democrats who screamed Big Brother against any and all security provisions put forth by the Bush Administration are now loudly defending the policies of the current administration, (without even knowing the details). And so it goes. Politics rules the day. Supposedly, party affiliation ends when America's vital security interests are at stake. Supposedly. Maybe they, on both sides of the aisle, have failed to remember to remember that one.
Have you ever thought about how that we older folks have our own way of communicating? It's refreshing to me to find someone who actually gets it when I use a colorful expression now and then. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle." ~ "Faster than a scalded dog." ~ "Slower than molasses on a cold morning." ~ "Lord have mercy." ~ "He can't help it, bless his heart." ~ "Well, shut my mouth." ~ "More slippery than a greased pig." ~ "I do declare." ~ "Heavens to Betsy." ~ "I wouldn't trust him any farther than I could throw him." ~ "Finer than frog hair." ~ "Nuttier than a fruitcake." ~ "I'm fixin to." ~ "Drunker than ole Cooter Brown." ~ "You are a sight for sore eyes." ~ "Living high off the hog." ~ "Rough as a corn cob." ~ "Just hold your horses there buddy." ~ There's many more but that will do for today. And, if the younger folks think these word pictures are somehow locked in the past, just remind them that the generation who use them made it through school without the internet or Google. Until next time, "Y'all don't be strangers. You hear?" May God bless us all.
Amen. ....More later.
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