With Independence Day coming up, it is that time of the year to reflect on being American. While many National holidays often focus on the military, guns & flag waving, when I think of July 4th, I think about what makes our country one of the better Republics in the world, it is our ability to dissent our government, I cannot think of a higher level of patriotism.
While the gun chucklers in our country and mostly in our state get all worked up over the 2nd amendment (basically created to protect white landowners from slave uprisings) it’s the 1st Amendment that really makes us unique, and why our founders put it FIRST.
“The pen is mightier then the sword.â€
As I have been watching things unravel over the past couple of weeks with a guy who claims he belongs to a clan (conveniently named after him), I find his case intriguing. Recently his attorney defended his free speech rights by saying it was just ‘hyperbole’ and he was really arrested for reprisal for filing a Federal suit against the city due to the implementation of 5G.
I’m not going to defend ‘The Living Man’ because some of the stuff he is claiming is a little wacky, and I don’t know him personally, but he really was using figures of speech and he is absolutely right about 5G being dangerous. But a good rule of thumb when emailing public officials, don’t use references to guns, bullets or people dying. I hate violence anyway, and I absolutely hate guns because I think it defines us as a violent society (which we are).
I recently talked to a retired high level military officer about what really is ‘classified information’ (I was looking for a definition, not something in particular). In our discussion (BTW, they did not share any with me) they brought up 5G, they told me besides the radiation affects of 5G and other health issues, what concerned them the most was the spyware installed in the 5G antennas made in other countries like China. They basically said that once a nationwide 5G network is implemented, the Chinese or other foreign entities will be able to spy on virtually ALL Americans. Scary crap.
What does concern me though about the arrest of ‘The Living Man’ is this isn’t the first time the city has arrested someone based on their dissent. Several years ago, Cameraman Bruce was arrested on a ‘Penny Bond’ over a stack of shingles in his backyard. Bruce won the case, but what is interesting is he was arrested on the same day he was set to testify to the City Council about the Events Center siding issue. Curiously, it was changed to ‘penny bond’ shortly before he showed up to be booked. So instead of just filling out the necessary paperwork and being on his way in a couple of minutes, he was arrested and placed in custody for several hours, preventing him to testify.
While I still need to see how the Living Man’s case plays out, we must be diligent about resisting reprisal for dissenting our government. I’ve been warning the city for years that a major 1st Amendment case will be boiling to the surface if they continue to try to limit free speech. I’m not sure what that will look like? Just remember celebrating Independence Day is about celebrating freedom, and freedom of speech is one of our greatest gifts in this country.