I had mixed emotions about the 196
0s rock group Steppenwolf, which made good money on two mediocre songs, “Born to Be Wild” and “Magic Carpet Ride.” But the boys put together two terrific songs on their 1968 album.
One was “The Pusher,” which really captured the difference between a pot dealer and drug pusher. The other gem was “The Ostrich,” which amazingly resonates even today with its description of how the game of life is rigged and what we can do about it.
Particularly interesting for me personally was this segment:
“You’re free to speak your mind my friend
As long as you agree with me
Don’t criticize the fatherland
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.”
I wrote here last week that Americans are losing one of our most cherished privileges — voting. February elections soon will be no more, thanks to our Confederacy of Dunces in the State Legislature. And we are losing another cherished “right” — freedom of speech. I think Steppenwolf explained it well 47 years ago.
We don’t really understand or agree on just what free speech is or isn’t.
The owner of a car repair business in Grandville has been invoking his free speech rights in saying he won’t provide services to gays. He posted his opinions on Facebook and has been taking a lot of heat since.
There are others who insist they have the right of free speech when they say offensive things about entire groups of. Of course, we all know the classic free speech exception about falsely yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater, but do we understand that hate speech, such as that practiced by Adolf Hitler against Jews 80 years ago, can make a person liable for a crime he didn’t physically commit, but encouraged?
The Grandville homophobe’s saga doesn’t disturb me as much as the one involving restaurateur Tommy Brann. The Grandville guy may have been out to get publicity for his business, but so was Brann when he posted the sign at his business that Michael Moore is not welcome to eat at this establishment.
The Grandville guy has a good chance of having his publicity stunt backfire badly (except for some GoFundMe bucks). But Brann probably will not lose any business for unnecessarily dissing Michael Moore.
Moore’s transgression was stating an unpopular opinion about snipers in discussions about the Clint Eastwood movie about Chris Kyle. So Brann took the opportunity to trumpet that Moore wasn’t welcome at his restaurant, as if Mr. Moore would want to come to Grand Rapids just to eat there. And Moore is being banned because he dared to express his opinion.
It doesn’t hurt Brann that Moore is not well liked in these parts.
Moore in the past had the audacity to say George W. Bush was wrong to lead us into war with Iraq. He was right. Moore had the temerity to suggest more than 25 years ago that heartless corporations were folding up shop despite making profits and people in communities lost their homes. He was right.
Moore, a member in good standing of the National Rife Association, was critical of the NRA in his Oscar-winning film, “Bowling for Columbine.” Since then we’ve endured Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook.
Moore pointed out that America’s health care system was more costly than any other industrial nation on the planet in “Sicko.” Moore outlined the corporate exporting of jobs to third world countries to maximize profits and pay lousy wages in “The Big One.”
In a country that is supposed to cherish freedom of speech, I think it’s OK to disagree with Michael Moore and challenge what he has said. But we disrespect the First Amendment when we punish him because we don’t like his opinions, regardless of whether or not they are valid.
If you don’t have real freedom of speech, all the other freedoms will be taken away as well.
Time to quote the ending of The Ostrich:
“But there’s nothing you and I can do
You and I are only two
What’s right and wrong is hard to say
Forget about it for today
We’ll stick our heads into the sand
Just pretend that all is grand
And hope that everything turns out okay.”
