“Now you free speech boys have your fun now, but after November Fifth, ya’ll through.” — George Wallace on the presidential campaign trail in 1968.

ACHTUNG: This is not a fair and balanced article. It is an editorial by the editor.

We Americans so often like to say our brave young men and women in uniform are “over there” across the sea fighting for our freedoms. And supposedly the most cherished of our freedoms, besides bearing arms, is the freedom of speech. And it’s been said that without freedom of speech, you really don’t have all the other freedoms.

It is true, up to a point, that we have a government that does not punish people for exercising their right of free speech. Our Supreme Court even ruled back in 1989 that any of us can burn our own American flags as a right of free speech, even though it may offend others.

Don’t forget that if you don’t have the freedom to offend, you don’t really have freedom of speech.

Too many Americans, however, have willfully forgotten. And that goes most particularly for businesses and corporations, which also were granted unlimited spending of money on political campaigns as their right of free speech.

Too many Americans, businesses and corporations do not truly honor others’ free speech rights when they are offended.

One good example a decade ago was the Dixie Chicks, who had the temerity to say publicly they were ashamed to be natives of the state George W. Bush claimed as his own. The government did not shut them up. The music industry and country music fans did. As a result, the three women suffered tremendous loss of revenue. They paid a hefty price for expressing their opinions.

I lost my job as editor at J-Ad Graphics in Hastings because I exercised freedom of speech. My superiors didn’t like what I said, regardless of my caveat that I was writing as an individual, not an editor, and I had no recourse.

Television host Bill Maher, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, had the impertinence to insist the 19 plane hijackers were nuts, but not cowards, and he was removed from his job. Dan Rather and his producer were dismissed at CBS-TV for suggesting George W. Bush used his father’s influence to get out of serving in Vietnam.

Most recently, Hispanics and women took a day off work to march in the streets and rally against what they perceive as threats to them and seek a redress of grievances. Some Hispanics were fired from their jobs as a result.

There is no question that business and corporate executives have a right to fire people when employees do something they don’t like. But then don’t tell me at the same time we have freedom of speech. Our society practices punishing people who say things publicly that offend us.

The government will punish free speech such as yelling “fire!” in a crowded theater. And it will punish those who block the public right of way. So freedom of speech is not absolute, nor should it be.

But I have grown exceedingly weary of those who constantly trot out freedoms as the reason why so many lay down their lives when it’s not really true. Too many Americans, businesses and corporations don’t really care about freedom of speech, only their own.

“You’re free to speak your mind my friend
As long as you agree with me
Don’t criticize the father land
Or those who shape your destiny
‘Cause if you do
You’ll lose your job your mind and all the friends you knew
We’ll send out all our boys in blue
They’ll find a way to silence you.”

— Steppenwolf, 1967, “The Ostrich”