What Freedom Sounds Like

We've been arguing about symbols a lot lately.  Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem.  President-elect Trump made a comment that flag burning should be illegal.  The cast of Hamilton gave Mike Pence a bit of a condescending lecture.  And every time, social media lost its damn mind.



Mike Pence had the very best line, however: "I nudged my kids and reminded them that is what freedom sounds like."

My biggest reaction when I saw this? 
That hairstyle means he doesn't expect to have to wear his helmet.

You might not of guessed by my demeanor on this blog, but I am as guilty as anyone of indulging in social media.  But I have an unusual perspective, I think.  I grew up in the rural South, but now I have lived for some time in the D.C./Baltimore area.  I have family and old high-school acquaintances back in Georgia, and I have made several liberal friends.  My personal political philosophy resides somewhere in the middle with the wacky Libertarians, so I don't completely alienate either side into "unfriending" or "unfollowing," the blackballing of the modern age.  Because of this, the stories and articles shared on my Facebook feed are both red and blue, and increasingly, they are more angry on both sides.

Look at some of this stuff I found:

NOW who's throwing out racist stereotypes, Lefty? 
Hello pot?  This is kettle.

You're doing it again...

And Righty weighs in...

And there's the ultimate guilt trip.

I'm no stranger to hyperbole, as this ridiculous blog clearly illustrates, but it seems to me that maybe everyone took the actions of the second-string quarterback for the 49ers just a little too seriously.  People I know to be reasonable and upstanding citizens IRL started calling for his head online.  They posted all sorts of things, but the main tenet of their argument is that Mr. Kaepernick should be forced to (not) kneel before the symbol because VETERANS.  

But--I'm one of those vets.  I know this much--I've been serving a good long time now, but I didn't go anywhere or fight anybody so that I could force an American citizen to pay homage.  That's not the sort of country we are.  Is Colin Kaepernick kind of an asshole for choosing to protest the national anthem?  Yes, kinda, but what sort of country would we be if it was the LAW that you had to bow to the government?  I when I joined the Marines, I swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, not  the flag, or the president, or even the Marines.  Among the very first rights protected in that document is the right to free speech. 

Then, just when you thought it was safe to go back on Instagram, Giant Douche, full of confidence after his upset win over Turd Sandwich, sent out this tweet:

Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!  — @realDonaldTrump

This old guy obviously doesn't get the whole "freedom" thing.

The constitution protects the speech that people DON'T like, because the speech they do like doesn't need any protection. It also protects the speech of the people who want to point out that Colin Kaepernick picked a shitty way to protest, or that flag burning is inflammatory and offensive.  Never mind the fact that the Supreme Court has already addressed this issue (and recently), and found that flag burning is symbolic speech, because--well, because of course it is. 


Apparently, the First Amendment isn't as important to some as the second one is.  Silly me, I like them both. 


Gotta love the beauty of the three-part harmony of America--seldom do all three lose their way at the same time.  Here's Justice Scalia talking about that very case:

https://youtu.be/fHO6IeBOiNE