Workplace Freedom of Speech

I’m using this post to explain how you are losing your right to free speech in America, and I’m pretty sure it isn’t the reason you’re thinking. Also note that when I say “you” lost your free speech, I don’t mean the media lost their ability to spin tall tales. The corporate media can say anything they all agree on. They present “both sides” of whatever they decide the issue de jour is, and throw a pundit or two on your screen. Naturally, they withhold or minimize any information they don’t want you to know about. Let’s step back in time for a brief back-story, then return to the dilemma:

When personal computing was but a glimmer in a nerd’s eye, an early word processor, called WordPerfect, was a miracle. Forty years later, it is still a textbook example of a well-made application: The developers actually debugged the program before they sold it to you! WordPerfect? You probably only know about Microsoft Word. Word was released in 1983, and was crap by comparison. Very few people bought Word because it was so inferior to WordPerfect; however, you already know, that wasn’t the end of the Word story. While Word didn’t sell well and no one liked using it, that’s where the genius of sociopath and rumored pedophile Bill Gates came into play. Continue reading “Orwell Nailed This One!” →

The World’s Cop

At one time, in an earlier age called the “Space Age,” it was common to hear American Republicans complain that America was being used as the World’s Policeman. As usual, the Republicans were being disingenuous; but  we weren’t being used by other nations; rather, the rest of the world came to us for guidance. They came to us because they looked to America for leadership — but the real question is this: Do the nations of the world really need a policeman? In a world that sprouts dictators from any crack in the sidewalk, the current crop of world dictators is a veritable Rogues Gallery of Bond villains. Do they bring enough mass murder, genocide, anguish and terror to the field to warrant a policeman? Well yes, they do.

We need an honest broker to promote and defend democracy. The feeling here is, “Yes, but just not us.” But if not us, then who?

Our relatively egalitarian, relatively idealistic society was once well thought of by many other nations whose citizens liked our liberal democracy concept and looked to us to provide direction, a moral compass, and leadership. In the post-war world, most Americans were pretty good people. That’s how we became the “World’s Policeman,” and it worked fairly well. A politically stable two-party America took the job seriously until our “military industrial complex” caught up with our tolerance for greedy, corrupt people. We started policing the wrong people in the wrong places, and for the wrong reasons. We went from the “World’s Policeman” to the “World’s Hypocrite.” Now we need to work our way back because, damn, do we ever need an honest World’s Policeman.

Run!

I’ve always had a soft spot for those few individuals smart enough to recognize danger in a second and leap out of the headlights; however, a semi-educated wild-ass guess (SWAG) is that America is about to suddenly get nasty. I hope it isn’t so, but I am worried America is about to take a Game of Thrones turn into cruel insanity …only this time, it’ll just be you and Hodor …or maybe just you! The late St. Leonard Cohen unmasked this nastiness when he wrote “You Want It Darker.” Sadly, half of America wants to step back into darkness.

“There’s your headlight!”