Episode 75: Bloggers Under Attack

Let's suppose for just one second that your news only came from one source and one source only. Would they be fair and objective still? Would the news media actually ask us to form our own opinions?

Starting with a brief history of the internet here. The Pentagon invented it as a form of communication within the military. By the time we got it, it was believed by our federal government and the military that it would be little more than one huge uber-mall. Yep, it would be one of the biggest bastions of the almighty dollar, another monument to consumerism. That, however, was thwarted when your typical high-school nerds learned the language of the computer and found one simple fact; the possibilities were endless.

Soon, there were programs geared towards communication. Email took the place of physically writing letters to your friends in distant places. Instant Messengers took the place of phones. Then came chat rooms...the connections became faster, the MP3 file came about, information on anything from any source was available and soon, we even had online journals...like this one where we could express our opinions openly and freely. Yes, that's right, we could become our own editorial columnists. Soon, it was like a big damn town hall. For some, it was a means of getting the crap feelings that we have off of our chests. We shared our ups, our downs, our highs and lows, we integrated pictures and video and there were others of us who decided to go where angels fear tread, dig deep and get us the information they felt the rest of us needed to see.

Looks like there are many on Fox News that want the blogosphere shut down because they feel threatened. By what? People who are angry about the state of affairs and the state of our nation? Are we now seriously being asked to suppress our opinions? Are we seriously being asked to NOT express our opinions if they relate to a touchy subject? Did we strike a nerve? I think so, my friends and now, all you have to do is look at the evidence to figure this out.

Well, I'm angry and I'll say this. To the man who said that "Liberals type" and I'm sure you remember that guy. The day you actually bother reading some of these blogs and actually stop to consider what YOUR CONSTITUENTS have to say...that will be the day that I take your "Liberal" remark as an insult.

To the reporter who thought it was dangerous to get such a one-sided opinion when I type something up? Aren't you giving the other side? What are you afraid of? Afraid I might be right?

To the woman who ranted about the foul-mouthed ranting going on. Hey, wake up...this isn't your webspace and if I feel like letting the f-word fly, you have two options; keep reading or go somewhere else. If you got offended, that isn't my problem. I refuse to make it my problem. My articles write themselves. You...get over it or get lost. I'm not here to protect your precious little senses.

I shake trees and I rattle cages and if there are people calling for the violent overthrow of the government and you don't like that, I've got some advice for you...GO LIVE IN CHINA!

Yep, right...umm...HERE it is! Second Amendment which I'll quote in it's entirety as follows:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

I wonder...why was that put in there? Well, two reasons in particular come to mind.

1. Our militias (now known as The National Guard) were meant to be the state's military. Unfortunately, they were federalized and made part of the department of the army. These people were supposed to answer to no one but the Governor and now, they answer to The Idiot Child In Chief.

2. And here was the safety catch...The RIGHT of THE PEOPLE to KEEP and BEAR ARMS SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. That means that since it was citizens who made the militias in the first place, it is the citizen's place to be armed and ready should he or she be called upon to defend home, family, property, life or state. Yep, citizens CAN get together guns, swords, knives, battle axes, or your weapon (weapons?) of choice strapped to your side, hanging off of you...whatever and, yes, even violently overthrow the federal government if the system of checks and balances begins to break down and the rights and liberty of the people to govern themselves is threatened domestically. By the way, when the military men and women of the U.S. are given the oath to defend this nation and it's constitution against ALL enemies foreign..and DOMESTIC...you might want to be worried less about what I'm saying here and more about when they start to figure this kinda thing out. You might not find them on your side anymore.

Damn right, we're angry and I think we deserve to be. Why? Because I see things like
John Conyers betraying his constituents, rather brazenly, by having peaceful protesters arrested and then I see things like this...just have a look and this happened in London...





















Let's insert another little factoid here. Alex Jones and several other protesters to the war and the incoming Big Brother state have actually been approached while in London as they've mounted their own protests and, as I'm sure you'd love to know...they had their information taken and were entered into a database of (I wish I were lying to you but I'm not) "potential terrorists."

What happened to these people in the pictures? Good question. This protest looks far from peaceful. Just check out those signs, if you would. These people are threatening violence but none of them faced arrest or terrorism charges for this action. Maybe by incarceration of our own peaceful protesters they hope to send a message to these guys? Yeah, doubt that. Meanwhile, Fox is getting their panties in a twist over bloggers.

When I went to school for mass communication, I was taught that each and every reporter MUST get FACTS and present them and let the public make their decisions for themselves. Still, we were being lauded as "future opinion-makers" and I guess I'm the only asshole that saw a problem with this. Or maybe this was more of the irony on top of taking advanced English classes, trying like hell to diagram sentences from Jabberwocky and having to write on a fourth-grade reading level because that's what 75% of Americans read on? Bullshit, not happening. Call me arrogant if you like, but it's not happening.

Tell ya what, you want my opinion sugar-coated and edited down so as not to hurt your freakin' sensitive behinds, start paying me copious amounts of money. That's right, set me for life. Hire an editor and publisher. Pay for it if you want it so badly and I'll let them have my worst and they can turn it into a shadow of it's former self. Until then, I'll present what I've got and you'll like it...or not, I could really care right now.

Why is the blogosphere coming across as angry...because we are! We're angry that our constitution has been treated like an issue of The Weekly World News after the toilet paper has run out in the bathroom. We're angry that our supposed "opinion-makers" are seriously calling for bloggers to censor themselves or BE censored. Let's go with one more from The Bill of Rights playbook, shall we? Oh yeah, we shall...

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Missed that one too? Damn, hate when that happens but I'm always happy to kinda point that out.

You know why I'm angry on a personal level? Because instead of hearing about the shit that really matters right now, I have to hear about Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan ad nauseum. I have to settle for that instead of really digging deep to find out what I want? No, no, no and HELL no!

I've already found two weapons that help me fight The War on Terror. First, I get my information wherever it's available and, if I can't find it there, I dig deep. Whatever the case, I get informed. Second...I'm not living in terror. You can have your little color-coded alert system all day but I'm not going to live scared.

For those of you threatening freedom (foreign and domestic)...you have every reason to be afraid and I see that you are. Oh yeah, I and many others like me see you working overtime.

We will not be stopped. We have a singular and focused vision.

We lead. You'll follow or you'll get the hell out of the way.

Put this Manifesto in your pipe and smoke it.