The 2011 Muzzle Awards

Between my surgery and my computer woes, I am woefully late with what is always one of my favorite posts each year: The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression's annual Muzzle Awards. Around April 13th to celebrate Jefferson's birthday, these awards are given to those persons and entities " who in the past year forgot or disregarded Mr. Jefferson’s admonition that freedom of speech ‘cannot be limited without being lost.’ Amen! The envelope, please! This year's 'honorees' are:

1.The Obama Administration and BP
2.The Transportation Security Administration
3.Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution G. Wayne Clough
4.The Virginia Department of Corrections
5.Mississippi State Court Judge Talmadge Littlejohn
6.Gail Sweet, Director of the Burlington County (New Jersey) Library System
7.The Administration of Albemarle High School (Virginia)
8.The Administration of Hamilton College (New York)

I'm not going to comment on all of them but I urge y'all to go here and check out their offenses against free speech. From President Obama to a Glen Beck supporter, violators of the First Amendment abound.

My personal favorite was #2 the young man who was flying from Richmomd, VA to Cincinnati, OH (not even an hour flight) about the time the TSA introduced the horrible new scanners and searches. This enterprising young fellow had written the 4th Amendment (illegal search and seizure) on his chest in protest and took of his shirt and sweats in protest. So what did the TSA do? They arrested him and tried to prosecute him for disorderly conduct. Fortunately, the prosecutor in that county is sane and dropped the charges which could have meant prison and a nasty fine.

The TJ Center does great work and I always enjoy them. Hope y'all do, too!

Happy Blogging!!!!

Kay

Afterthoughts on the Second Amendment

I really enjoyed the excellent thoughtful comments y'all made on yesterday's post. I found the articulate, thoughtful and very, very relevant. I also enjoyed that they weren't skewed with NRA rhetoric. (I think y'all know I have damn little patience with fanatics.) The key word for me in these comments was 'responsibility' and it gave me pause to think about it. Mary and Jams both mentioned it implicitly and it was implied by the rest of y'all. I don't know about y'all but "responsibility" was one of the first big words I learned as a kid and y'all probably did, too.

The intent of this amendment was that citizens be able to defend themselves against a tyrannical government as they themselves had had to do. A worthy goal for their era; a somewhat impractical one for ours.

Here's another quote on arms that left me with chills:

"This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!" -- Adolf Hitler

What's the answer? I'm not certain but I think education is important and letting cooler heads on both sides of this issue prevail to find a middle ground that will quell the epidemic of violence in our society.

Thank you all again for your excellent input.

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!