Thursday, October 16, 2008

6th grade and Freedom of Speech

G comes up to me tonight and says, "Mom, there are some kids at school that believe Obama is the antichrist and I agree." Frantically, I look around the room to make sure there are no bugs or hidden cameras. I tell her, "You could be right but freedom of speech isn't really freedom of speech. You cannot be talking about things like that." Her innocent 6th grade frame of mind couldn't understand why we don't really have freedom of speech. I didn't show her the article but I did encourage her to let it go.
When did it get so bad that we become fearful of sharing our opinions? Why do I care if my blog gets flagged because I have an opinion? When did it become necessary to warn my daughter about speaking her mind? Truth is...we are going to cause our own freedoms to become null and void because of our apathy. What a sad place!
If you know G, you know that she will go down with the ship before giving up her opinions. She is her mother's daughter!

Just some political thoughts with a recovering migraine sufferer today! :)

Can you believe this????????????

Secret Service visits Lufkin woman after 'death threat' allegation from an Obama campaign volunteerBy JESSICA SAVAGEThe Lufkin Daily News
Monday, October 06, 2008
A Lufkin woman received a surprise visit from the Secret Service last week because of a "death threat" comment she reportedly made about Sen. Barack Obama to a campaign volunteer asking for her support of the presidential candidate.
Two federal agents arrived at Jessica Hughes' home Thursday to ask her if she said, "I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."
Hughes said her words were deliberately twisted by a volunteer who was apparently unhappy Hughes was rude during a phone conversation the two had. The Lufkin mother, a Republican, said she received a call on her cell phone Wednesday from a woman with the Obama Volunteers of Texarkana.
"She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, 'No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.' (And then) I hung up."
(Hughes is referring to a "born alive" Illinois bill that did not pass in the Illinois state Senate in 2005 and had previously been opposed by Obama because he said it undermined Roe v. Wade, according to FactCheck.org, a non-partisan organization. A federal version of the bill, which Obama said he would have supported, passed by unanimous consent and was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002.)
Obama Campaign Communications for Texas director Josh Taylor declined to comment Monday, refusing to answer any questions and referring the matter to the Secret Service, which he said is conducting an investigation. A message left with a Secret Service agent in Houston was not immediately returned.
Hughes said she was surprised to see two Secret Service agents at her door, and upset to learn that the conversation she had with the volunteer apparently had not been recorded.
"I find it hard to believe that (campaign volunteers) don't tape these calls. They call people unsolicited and they aren't monitoring the calls or recording them? I think that is absolutely ridiculous," she said.
"I mean, how often must this happen — that someone is rude to a volunteer that they don't want to talk to?"
Hughes said she wants to file a countercomplaint against the volunteer.
"She has made a charge that will follow me the rest of my life," she said.
"I find that repugnant and violating — that some person got her undies in a bundle because she didn't like what I had to say."
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Find this article at: http://www.lufkindailynews.com/search/content/news/stories/2008/10/07/secret_service.html