Welcome to the Project

Since the age of the first petroglyphs, it has been the desire of humans to express themselves and to be understood. Those primitive rock drawings would evolve over the millennia into the cultured languages of modern man but it was only after the birth of this nation that the right to freely use the gift of language had been guaranteed in one the most extraordinary works of literary genius ever crafted by human hands - The United States Constitution.

The rights and freedoms enumerated in the Constitution will only survive as long as people remain vigilant and aware of the efforts under way to restrict them. This is not a Republican blog nor is it Democrat. It is neither Conservative nor Liberal. This is about the pursuit of truth in the defense of freedom.

I intend to espouse the truth, expose the myths and embrace my guaranteed right to speak freely and without fear. The subjects will be topical and timely. Because of the diversity of the American public, I can be certain that what is contained in these posts will be supported by some and met with deep disapproval by others. It is my intent and desire that these differences are discussed rationally and respectfully and that the controversy will spark real dialogue that will help all of us draw a roadmap to the truth together.

Recently the right to free speech has been under attack. The people engaged in spirited debates surrounding the health care town hall meetings have been denigrated by those that are sworn to support and defend the Constitution. That deeply concerns me. Yes some have been a bit too loud and some have been a bit too ugly but the First Amendment applies to them too. There are no qualifying requirements before you can gain the protection of free speech under the Constitution. That protection is afforded to the public regardless if they are loud or quite, right or wrong, rude or polite and most especially whether you agree with the current administration or not.

When Maureen Dowd of the New York Times suggests that Mr. Obama use his position to “Squash” the people speaking out at the town hall meetings one has to question what the state of the First Amendment will soon be if a member of the press is actually advocating the suppression of free speech.

Just to open this with a bang, here are some worthy quotes on the subject of free speech. I hope you consider them carefully and keep them in mind as this site takes form.

See you soon!
Paul


“The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen.”
~Tommy Smothers

“Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.”
~Potter Stewart

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
~John F. Kennedy

“Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings.”
~Heinrich Heine

“The test of democracy is freedom of criticism.”
~David Ben-Gurion