You.
Yourself.
You look at yourself, and you know exactly what you bring to the table. You might be enthusiastic, lethargic, or even indifferent. All things considered, you know what you are.
You see them. You notice things that you like about them. There might be a few flaws, but they look good now. The only question is when the going gets tough, then what happens? Sometimes a little adversity is what most loves truly require to know what you have. You almost have to have some bad times to fully realize the good times. You've had up days, and down days, and you will forever remember that one perfect day together.
You keep growing closer. You spend some more time together. Minutes turn to hours. Hours to days. Soon its been almost 2 full months and things are really looking good. Every moment you spend together you appreciate more and more. You've got a great outlook on everything, and things just seem to be steadily falling into place. Have you had a rough spell yet? Of course, nothing is every quite perfect. But its worth it. In the end, one day, it will be worth it. You will look back at all the times, good and bad, and appreciate everything. That culminating moment, that state of pure euphoria. That is what I'm looking for.
I can't wait for the day that my Oakland A's to win the World Series...and you probably thought this was a sappy love story
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Another 1st Amendment Rant
"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."
-The Constitution, Amendment I
Now, if you haven't ever actually read any of the Constitution, I highly recommend it. It is without a doubt the most eloquent piece of writing that I have ever come across. Maybe its the style of prose used is just something that is simply no longer heard of at these times. However, what has really drawn me to write about this topic is the recent actions taken by the Viacom corporation. The most troubling issue at hand is obviously the First Amendment. I'm sure you're captivated as to how I'm going to tie the 3rd largest media conglomerate in the known universe to the Holiest of Holy Amendments, but stay with me here.
On April 10th, 2010, one of the greatest acts of destroying the Constitution was displayed. Actually, allow me to rephrase that, it was not displayed. On that date, Comedy Central censored the South Park episode "201." Specifically, Comedy Central censored anyone saying the name "Muhammad," all thing said by Muhammad as well as the final speech. Comedy Central is merely the tip of the iceberg that we all know as Viacom. Viacom is directly responsible for an artists censorship. I'm not here to argue or state a case for or against the rights of an employee, in this case, the brilliant Matt Stone and the magnificent Trey Parker, against the company that has employed them, Viacom. As a Republican, I'm here to pose the rarest of questions: Where was the government?
I'm not advocating any lawsuits, any government agency kicking the doors in of anyone's homes, but what I'm asking is where was the Judicial branch of our government?(Allow me this sole caveat, of course an employer has the right to censor an employee. I would be fired if I showed up to work on Monday naked, or sporting a competing company's logo etc. I don't want to blur the already hazy lines of the dominance of an employer over their serfs. Oops, I meant employees.) The entire nature and existence of the judicial branch is to interpret the Constitution, and at times, when to over-turn or uphold previously established interpretations. I won't cite the cases rallying for Freedom of Speech, as I'm sure you all know them. The point is that Freedom of Speech is as old as the day the ink finished drying on the Constitution. 8 days is all it took for the Constitution to be ratified and then amended. The 1st Amendment was adopted so quickly because it was crucial to the survival of the Colonies. Long story short (too late, I know) is that by now, the US Supreme Court really should have a good idea of what Freedom of Speech is, and how to go about defending it.
Now I know, all you're thinking right now is "Okay, well thank you for making me burn 3 minutes of my time reading a history lesson about the Constitution, where is the fear? Where is my South Park? Speaking of South Park, whats on TV right now? And do I have any new Facebook notifications?" Here is the meat and potatoes of what I'm getting at, long winded thought it may be: If Viacom was so afraid of a radical reaction being realized (like that alliteration?) after airing the episode "201," where was the governments interjection to protect?
I know that the NYPD stepped up their security for Viacom's office there, and I commend the fine work done by all of the boys and girls in blue in the great city of NYC. That is not the protection that I'm speaking of. I'm not talking about the kind of protection that certain parents wish they had, and thus would not be calling themselves parents right now...although that's really important too. The most type of protection that I am calling for is simple. Protection from fear. This is not a call to arms, a plea for action or inciting of violence. This is a begging of one man to the rest of the nation.
Since when was it okay for a company or people to be so paralyzed by fear that they're too afraid to air a 25 minute show in its allotted time slot? Have we fallen so far down the "politically correct" well that we can't get ourselves out of it? What will it take for us to wake up and come to grips with the world around us? At what point do the citizens begin to ask the hard questions? Is this the type of non-reaction that U.S. citizens can expect from their government when one of our own companies is threatened? Are we going to wait until we have Catholic extremists demanding things, then Jewish fundamentalist forcing issues, all the while we have Islamic radicals continuing to make threats? To me, the government missed a golden opportunity to stand up and not take one on the chin. The powers that be simply rolled over and took no action. By doing nothing, the government sent an incredibly potent message to its citizens, and an enthusiastic answer to the radicals:
We will cave under pressure.
Am I reading too much into the lack of one of my favorite shows being aired in its entirety? Perhaps. On the other hand, what if you're not reading into things enough?
-The Constitution, Amendment I
Now, if you haven't ever actually read any of the Constitution, I highly recommend it. It is without a doubt the most eloquent piece of writing that I have ever come across. Maybe its the style of prose used is just something that is simply no longer heard of at these times. However, what has really drawn me to write about this topic is the recent actions taken by the Viacom corporation. The most troubling issue at hand is obviously the First Amendment. I'm sure you're captivated as to how I'm going to tie the 3rd largest media conglomerate in the known universe to the Holiest of Holy Amendments, but stay with me here.
On April 10th, 2010, one of the greatest acts of destroying the Constitution was displayed. Actually, allow me to rephrase that, it was not displayed. On that date, Comedy Central censored the South Park episode "201." Specifically, Comedy Central censored anyone saying the name "Muhammad," all thing said by Muhammad as well as the final speech. Comedy Central is merely the tip of the iceberg that we all know as Viacom. Viacom is directly responsible for an artists censorship. I'm not here to argue or state a case for or against the rights of an employee, in this case, the brilliant Matt Stone and the magnificent Trey Parker, against the company that has employed them, Viacom. As a Republican, I'm here to pose the rarest of questions: Where was the government?
I'm not advocating any lawsuits, any government agency kicking the doors in of anyone's homes, but what I'm asking is where was the Judicial branch of our government?(Allow me this sole caveat, of course an employer has the right to censor an employee. I would be fired if I showed up to work on Monday naked, or sporting a competing company's logo etc. I don't want to blur the already hazy lines of the dominance of an employer over their serfs. Oops, I meant employees.) The entire nature and existence of the judicial branch is to interpret the Constitution, and at times, when to over-turn or uphold previously established interpretations. I won't cite the cases rallying for Freedom of Speech, as I'm sure you all know them. The point is that Freedom of Speech is as old as the day the ink finished drying on the Constitution. 8 days is all it took for the Constitution to be ratified and then amended. The 1st Amendment was adopted so quickly because it was crucial to the survival of the Colonies. Long story short (too late, I know) is that by now, the US Supreme Court really should have a good idea of what Freedom of Speech is, and how to go about defending it.
Now I know, all you're thinking right now is "Okay, well thank you for making me burn 3 minutes of my time reading a history lesson about the Constitution, where is the fear? Where is my South Park? Speaking of South Park, whats on TV right now? And do I have any new Facebook notifications?" Here is the meat and potatoes of what I'm getting at, long winded thought it may be: If Viacom was so afraid of a radical reaction being realized (like that alliteration?) after airing the episode "201," where was the governments interjection to protect?
I know that the NYPD stepped up their security for Viacom's office there, and I commend the fine work done by all of the boys and girls in blue in the great city of NYC. That is not the protection that I'm speaking of. I'm not talking about the kind of protection that certain parents wish they had, and thus would not be calling themselves parents right now...although that's really important too. The most type of protection that I am calling for is simple. Protection from fear. This is not a call to arms, a plea for action or inciting of violence. This is a begging of one man to the rest of the nation.
Since when was it okay for a company or people to be so paralyzed by fear that they're too afraid to air a 25 minute show in its allotted time slot? Have we fallen so far down the "politically correct" well that we can't get ourselves out of it? What will it take for us to wake up and come to grips with the world around us? At what point do the citizens begin to ask the hard questions? Is this the type of non-reaction that U.S. citizens can expect from their government when one of our own companies is threatened? Are we going to wait until we have Catholic extremists demanding things, then Jewish fundamentalist forcing issues, all the while we have Islamic radicals continuing to make threats? To me, the government missed a golden opportunity to stand up and not take one on the chin. The powers that be simply rolled over and took no action. By doing nothing, the government sent an incredibly potent message to its citizens, and an enthusiastic answer to the radicals:
We will cave under pressure.
Am I reading too much into the lack of one of my favorite shows being aired in its entirety? Perhaps. On the other hand, what if you're not reading into things enough?
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