I might be wrong, but I really think that
The speech police are going wild.
Beyond the elastic interpretation of law, beyond reason
They’ve deputized the circus and the zoo:
The blue donkeys, the red elephants, the green party, the undecided, blues, the red, the whites, the North, the South, the #MeToo. And all other who whoo’s.
What can I say, write, record, video tape, digitize, draw, paint or quote?
It feels like the congressional chorus’s rendition of Duke Ellington’s song, modified by me:
“You can’t say a thing without a legal wing
No way, no way, no way, duh!”
Everything is an open invitation to openly war on the airways.
Fatigue is setting in. Do not get tired, for the speech police will enact new laws.
The consequences would lead to arrests, criminalization and destruction of the first amendment.
No proof needed, we seen what happened: the death of Khashoggi, the torture and arrest of women in Iran, the poisoning of Russian immigrants on foreign soil, the journalists and protesters jailed and killed in too many African countries. All of these countries are represented at the United Nations, but only pretend to agree with human rights principles.
That said…
This is a plea for all, wherever you are and whoever you are, to protect freedom of speech, freedom of the press, especially the independent newspapers. We are the last vestige not controlled by large global and national conglomerates, monopolies controlled by a few greedy, savvy people, gravy trains for the bull and bear stock markets. Freedom of speech is not limited to style sections and special interest stories randomly placed by the “big boy do as you’re told” editors-in-chief.
Support your local independent newspapers, radio and social media stations.
We all welcome your support, stories and volunteerism. At streetsensemedia.org, we are the voice for the homeless, the disconnected, the poor, the challenged. We report on the war for housing and we tell the stories of our community. Our staff is adamant and not afraid to lead. They include our editor Eric Falquero, Jeff Grey, Leila Drici, Gladys Robert, Colleen Cosgriff and executive director Brian Carome.
When we solve homelessness, houselessness and price gouging in D.C., then they can all be silent. But until that time, we are the last check and balance for free speech.
