Freedom of Speech

This column is supposed to be about the happenings in my neighborhood or new developments around town, however, there are times when situations arise that I feel I must address. Now is one of those times.
A few hundred years ago, a few residents of England decided they were tired of being oppressed and tired of the Catholic Church and Parliament ramming beliefs down their throats, and decided to come to America. These were our ancestors. Our ancestors fought to secure our freedoms and thus the United States Constitution was born. Our ancestors also fought in wars to secure our freedoms just as many soldiers are doing today. They, along with our ancestors, are fighting or have fought to protect our Constitution, which guarantees us certain rights and one of those rights as guaranteed under the First Amendment is freedom of speech. “There shall be no law abridging the freedom of speech.” We as a country must believe in the Constitution as evidenced by our involvement in this “war” in Iraq, however, somewhere, somehow, a right that we have is now being abridged. We can not joke, use a phrase, say certain words or perceived innuendos without fear of offending someone or some principal and being taken to task for it.
Witness this latest fiasco with Imus. I would not have even thought to say what he said, as I am sure most of you would not have, but the fact remains he has that right; he has freedom of speech. If Imus is fired, then Rosie must be fired, O’Reilly must be fired, most Rappers must stop rapping, many actors must never act again. McCarthy is dead but some forms of his beliefs are alive and well. Instead of worrying about the Communist, we had certainly better be worrying about anyone who utters a word we do not like. People in this country have the right to voice their opinions no matter how crass they may be. As long as a person voices opinions or speaks without the explicit intention of inciting someone to commit a criminal act, then that person has that right. If someone voices an opinion or makes a joke or unintentionally slams someone and that someone gets his or her feelings hurt, so what? Apologize if you want to, if not, do not. Do not run off to rehab because you uttered a slur; do not worry about being fired if you show your stupidity and make an unkind joke. If being stupid got people fired then many people including our President would be out of work.
People are breaking the law to come to the United States of America because we have guaranteed freedoms. We are not a dictatorship yet. We do, however, let big business and the bottom line rule us and that, my friends, is eroding our rights. This is America where every pain in the - - - has the unfettered right to speak their minds. This is not the America where one group or nationality or party has the right to use undue influence to rid themselves of people they do not agree with just because they can.
Austin Rhodes has no admirer in me. Champ Walker now fancies himself as Augusta’s Al Sharpton by trying to rid the airways of Mr. Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes voiced his opinion. He did not slander anyone, he did not incite anyone to commit a crime, he did what every American has the right to do. Champ Walker does not have to voice an opinion to remove all doubt.
The Circle K on the corner of Clifton and Georgia is going through a remodel. The only thing they are selling at present is gas, lottery tickets and some cigarettes. They tell me the store will be in remodel stage for about 14 days.