Political Correctness And The Loss Of Free Speech....

Political correctness is no more and no less than someone, be it an individual, a group or the government, putting limits on freedom of speech.

Certainly there are instances where limiting free speech was deemed necessary to protect the public.  Yelling “FIRE!” in a crowded theater for instance, or getting on a plane and saying you’re going to blow it up, regardless of whether or not you actually have a means.  (Nowadays you’re more likely to get beaten and tied up by the passengers before the authorities have a chance to get to you.)  Saying you’re going to kill a politician or a judge is also an example of restricted freedom of speech.  And I’m not going to sit here and say I disagree with these rulings.  But those examples are not done out of political correctness.

Recently, in Washington State, legislation was passed to remove a list of words from official government documents because they weren’t “gender neutral”.  Basically, they removed a list of words that contained the word “man” if they could find other “gender neutral” words to replace them.  Some of the words on that list were “penmanship, journeyman plumber," and "signalman."  They did not remove “airman” or “seaman” because of objections from the military.

In my humble opinion, anyone who is offended by a word like “penmanship” because it seems masculine is a bit too sensitive.  I’m wondering what words they’re going to find to replace “woman, women, and female?”  After all – each of those words contain a nasty, derogatory and demeaning masculine word.  Right?

Political correctness, loss of free speech and ever increasing nanny government are working together to “fundamentally transform” our nation from the free, democratic republic as it was founded to a progressive, socialistic, moving toward a totalitarian nation.  Don’t believe me?  Let’s take a look at some of the freedoms that have been and are being taken away from you.

In 2012, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act that authorized indefinite detention, without due process, of anyone suspected of aiding terrorist organizations, including American citizens.

He also signed HR 347, creating “No Free Speech Zones” in public areas, which prohibits protests near anyone who has Secret Service protection.  In other words – no one can heckle or yell at the President in a public forum or face criminal charges.

The Attorney General recently argued that the President has full authority to kill American citizens with drone strikes if they are suspected of aiding terrorists on foreign soil.  And he has already done so.  These Americans did not receive due process of law.  They were simply killed.

New York is the greatest example of the nanny government taking over.  Mayor Bloomberg has outlawed smoking in many public places, including beaches and parks.  He attempted to outlaw soft drink cups larger than 16 ounces and has limited the amount of narcotic medications that can be given by a physician in an emergency room to three tablets.  He is now working on legislation to force store owners to hide cigarettes so they cannot be seen by customers.  (He hasn’t outlawed the sale of them yet but wants to “protect” people from seeing them on the shelf.)  Oh – and he has outlawed salt in restaurants.  And all of these things he has done to protect the public from itself.  Can it be too far away that the federal government begins doing the same thing?

Some people get carried away in their attempts to make everyone “equal” and the same.  I can tell you that we are not the same, regardless of how many rules and laws are made to make us that way.  It used to be that individualism was what made America strong and great.  Now the progressives want to move toward collectivism and make us all the same.  Can you say “Big Brother”?