We have reached a turning point in this country where the liberals and conservatives are equally dangerous.  I am sure there are many who would disagree with me.  But whether speech is hateful or hurtful, matters not.  Free Speech is Free Speech until it becomes something more. For example, the killing of unarmed citizens is totally unacceptable but so is speech inciting those who are unhinged, to carry out violence against law enforcement.  The vast majority of whom are not racists or evil, and will likely never fire their sidearms in their entire careers. Do most people even realize that fact?  Let me repeat it.  The vast majority of law enforcement officers will Never fire their sidearms while on the job in their entire careers.  But that is not the purpose here.

The main purpose is to make the point that it’s time for people who speak and say what they believe, to stop apologizing for those beliefs out of fear of retribution.  It’s absolutely their right to do so.  As François-Marie Arouet, nom de plume, Voltaire said more than two and one half centuries ago, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”  That is what made this country great.  Muhammad Ali’s willingness to give up the greatest title in the world, money and fame to protest against the Viet Nam war and threatened with jail time only to be vindicated by the U.S. Supreme Court. That is what America should stand for.

It matters not that the comments made by those on the right are polar opposites of ones made on the left.  It’s about their right to make those statements.  So it’s time for all of those people, including the latest, Steve Clevenger, of the Seattle Mariners, the latest to rant and then recant, to stop apologizing.  You said what you meant and what you feel and though I and many other disagree with those statements, the right to say them must be defended.  Do we really want to fire, suspend, or jail all those who disagree with us?  If that’s the case, then this country is truly heading in the wrong direction or worse.

Besides, these comments are obviously disingenuous.  Mel Gibson clearly doesn’t like Jews and Reese Witherspoon is a rich, spoiled, crybaby actress and apologizes don’t change the facts.  Clevenger tweeted his beliefs and this is how the guy feels.  Whether I, or anyone else agrees with him, has no bearing on the issue being raised here, His Right To Say What He Believes.  The same holds true for Gibson and Witherspoon.  Does it really set the record straight when someone apologizes for something they said?  Absolutely not.  I suppose it just makes some people feel better.  Like they’ve won some sought of moral victory.  But in truth it’s a hollow, meaningless gesture.

I don’t wish to live in a country or a world where the liberal media and liberal people are the oppressors any more than I want to live in a right, extremist, conservative world where people are jailed for speaking our for what they believe in or what they oppose.  There is NO DIFFERENCE between them.  Free Speech is Free Speech for ALL, or the words have no meaning.