Tag Archives: Patrick Henry

Political Censorship

Photo by Mathias P.R. Reding on Pexels.com

Politically Incorrect I may be, but I have a right in America to be however I choose, regardless of what public opinion may dictate as proper or improper, offensive to a particular group or party, providing I do not physically harm someone; or what supports their agenda and makes me a dedicated supporter, worthy of praise.

To be clear, at one time in my life, I may have wanted to burn down the White House, but not anymore. I prefer to live in peace and to treat others the way I want to be treated, no matter who they are or what their occupation is in life. We are all in this together.

I do not support and was saddened to see what happened at the White House on January 6, 2021; nor the events that led to the attack, which, in my opinion, may be legally attributed to outgoing President Donald Trump, based upon what he said to the crowd gathered near the White House before the attack began. (I will not go into all of that because only a caveman wouldn’t know what I am referring to and cavemen can’t read anyway.)

Censorship

As someone who has been censored, I am censor-sensitive and feel a lot like Patrick Henry, whom I have written about in previous blogs, but I am not willing to die to defend your right (or President Trump’s) right to say anything. That is just asking a little bit much: I will speak out, though, and fight to prevent our words from being silenced by censors.

On one level, nothing going on in the political arena matters to me, but I do feel obligated to express my opinion and view of what I see happening.

What I don’t feel is right is all the politically driven censorship by Facebook and Twitter, which I am sure was influenced by the recent Congressional actions against Facebook, Amazon, Google, and other technology companies dominating the market.

More recently, Facebook removed ads for guns and weapons because of more political interference. Click Here

The new controlling party doesn’t like guns, so how strange that Facebook suddenly makes a decision to stop advertising the sale of items frowned upon by the Democrats in particular.

At what point does the First Amendment of the United States Constitution protect Freedom of Speech? With today’s political environment, it doesn’t in most circumstances, as can be shown by Facebook and Twitter shutting down President Trump’s accounts.

Though private companies and not really protected under the provisions of the First Amendment, I see the situation as the beginning of the disappearance of another of the Writings on the Wall. To understand that statement, read Animal Farm by George Orwell (buy from this link and I earn a commission).

Most people in modern society fall within the Sheep category written about in Animal Farm, who supported and could not accept that the controlling party (Pigs) were removing the Writings on the Wall; illustrative of the disappearance of what was voted on during the revolution (animals taking over the farm and running off the farmers who killed and used animals and their parts). Also reflective of what would be the Constitution or controlling documents agreed upon by the Animals/People.

FACEBOOK

On Facebook, I posted a link to an article written on April 2, 2005, Patrick Henry’s take on American values and wrote the following:

Would Patrick Henry have defended President Trump’s right to say all of the controversial statements and claims? As a writer and one who has written many words that some found offensive and decided to not follow my blog because I supported issues different from their beliefs, I think of who will be the one to decide what you may read?

The power of the media was shown when its false allegations of the Spanish attacking one of the American ships started the Spanish-American war (see below for link to History).

If Freedom of Speech does not matter, go to China and Russia where the governments exhibit total control and have a history of making people disappear who speak out against the establishments.

Freedom of the Press

Is the news media responsible for what happened at the White House, because the news outlets provided the platform for the inciteful speeches made by President Trump? No.

Some politicians are wanting to hold Facebook, Twitter, and other private companies responsible for hateful content that leads to violence, so what it the difference? There isn’t.

Starting with control over the private sector is only the start for the erosion of America’s Freedom of Speech protections.

Next in line of attack will be the news media outlets or reporters who report on issues that result in violence or political upheaval.

Real Fake News helped start the Spanish American War in 1898 by falsely reporting the Spanish attacked the USS Maine in Cuba. A lie that fed the mass frenzy to attack the Spanish and to defend the Nation!

More Fake News led to the attack on the Capitol when the Commander in Chief encouraged his followers to take a stand, promising to be there with them when they did. He lied.

Oh, Sheep, where does it end?

(For more evidence of the political pressure involved in censorship that threatens the information technology of today, read Capitol Hill Attack Could End Section 230 As We Know It by Daniel Howley·Technology Editor, Wednesday, January 13, 2021.

The problem arises when a particular group of people (controlling party) will determine the information available for people to read or not read, much as what goes on in communist countries.)

Independence Day

Flags Flying Proudly Across America on July 4, 2019

Happy Independence Day to those who celebrate the Fourth of July in America.

Let Freedom Ring

Though I may not be proud of everything America does, I am proud to be an American and am proud of the brave men and women who have fought to keep America safe and as free as what it is in these times of terror and danger.

When Paul Revere galloped on his horse shouting, “The British are coming,” terror may have existed in the hearts of those who feared losing their life, but that did not stop those brave people from going out to fight those who dominated the nation, until America had had enough and took a stand.

Patrick Henry Said it Best: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

Independence Day (colloquialthe Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject (and subordinate) to the monarch of Britain and were now united, free, and independent states. The Congress had voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2, but it was not declared until July 4.

“Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworksparadesbarbecuescarnivalsfairspicnicsconcertsbaseball gamesfamily reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States.” [footnotes omitted]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

Flag Proudly Flown High Above the VFW

Let Freedom Ring for Many Years to Come, All Across the World.

Fight for the Right to be Free!

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

[Note: this blog post contains a sensitive and possible offensive issue to some people. Click to read other of the many blogs on this site or click to go elsewhere if expecting political correctness. Thanks for stopping by to visit this website.]

His Words Drove a Nation to Stand and Fight for a Right to Be Free

Patrick Henry, Second Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775

“In March of 1775, the Second Virginia Convention met at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, to discuss the state’s strategy against the British. It was here that Patrick Henry delivered his most famous speech, ending with the quote, ‘Give me liberty, or give me death!’”

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/patrick-henry#section_4

Patrick Henry referred to slavery in his famous speech to unite the movement of men, women, and children to stand and fight for independence from the British. When his peers debated whether to work out peaceful arrangements or to use force against the rule of Great Britian, Patrick Henry spoke words heard today:

“Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? … Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

https://www.biography.com/political-figure/patrick-henry

The slavery Patrick Henry mentioned concerned enslavement to the British, as he spoke decades before the enslavement of Negro men, women and children, rightfully become a hot topic in America.

Slavery existed in America during Patrick Henry’s speech:

Slavery in the United States was the legal institution of human chattel enslavement, primarily of Africans and African Americans, that existed in the United States of America in the 18th and 19th centuries. Slavery had been practiced in British America from early colonial days, and was legal in all Thirteen Colonies at the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It lasted in about half the states until 1865, when it was prohibited nationally by the Thirteenth Amendment. As an economic system, slavery was largely replaced by sharecropping.

“By the time of the American Revolution (1775–1783), the status of slave had been institutionalized as a racial caste associated with African ancestry.” [footnote omitted]

Slavery in the United States, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States

The photo of Patrick Henry’s statue came from the Town Square of McDonough, Georgia. Fifty yards from where it stands, a memorialized Confederate Soldier stands tall amongst the trees, the McDonough Soldier.

American Civil War Confederate Memorial

McDonough Soldier [Stood] Tall and Proud in Town Square Before Removal

The McDonough Soldier has a right to stand in the Town Square, as he is a part of History. Though he may represent an unpleasant part of history, it is history, and that statue represents the relative of someone who fought and died in America’s most gruesome war. He deserves to stand where others deemed appropriate many years ago.

Patrick Henry may have waved the Gadsden Flag during battle, another flag that some have claimed represented racism because the designer, Christopher Gadsden, was a slave trader and owner of slaves. 

Personally, I don’t see the relevance of what the designer of the flag did, as making the flag representative of slavery or racism, no more than I see the Confederate Flag representing racism because racists use it in their rallies.  (Read more on that topic in the excerpt to follow.)

If you want to know about racism, watch the news because race-related issues flood the news channels and flourishes in many cities today, all across the World; it’s not just an issue in America.

Gadsden Flag, designed by “Christopher Gadsden (February 16, 1724 – August 28, 1805) was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement during the American Revolution and a soldier and politician from South Carolina

An Excerpt from Southern Pride-Waving the Confederate Flag.

CIVIL WAR:  I raise the Confederate Flag in this blog to rebel against all of the politically correct BS in the news about issues surrounding Southern Heritage.  Some politicians want to stop the celebration of the Confederate Memorial holiday, and to remove from state buildings and grounds: Confederate flags, monuments, statues of Confederate heroes, and other remnants of the American Civil War (1861-1865) because some people find those things offensive.  I find it offensive when people lie about history to support their agenda, such lies as the main reason for the Civil War being slavery.

Was it slavery or was it the economic edge Southern plantation owners had over competitors in Cotton markets, due to the slave labor?   Economics.  Was slavery more of an ideology used by the Union to get the poor to fight their battles?  If the Civil War was fought over slavery, wouldn’t President Lincoln have signed the Emancipation of Proclamation to free all slaves before the war began on April 12, 1861, instead of on January 1, 1863?  Weren’t the slaves used by the president to fight off Confederate forces who had proved to be a more formidable force than expected by slaughtering his troops in numerous battles?  Yes, is the most logical answer based upon the facts and history of the rich using the poor to fight their battles.

I find it offensive for politicians to use the Charleston Church Massacres that I wrote about in “Love and Evil Are Color-Blind,” as justification to remove evidence of the bloodiest and most gruesome war fought on American soil.  The war where smaller bands of Southerners held their own against larger troops of Union Soldiers, until the advent of the repeating rifle, which tilted the war in favor of the Northern troops who had more food, guns, ammunition, and other supplies, because of the economic embargoes placed on the South.  The North won the war but never defeated Southern Pride.  The Confederate flag is a reminder of that, rather than slavery, as has been used to manipulate the masses to take down the flag.

Six-hundred thousand Confederate Soldiers fought against 2,213,363 Union Soldiers.*  The southeastern states were the last to fall.  When the war ended with the surrender of the last Confederate troop on May 26, 1865, there were 646,392 Union casualties, with 140,414 of those casualties being battle deaths, compared to the 133,821 Confederate casualties, 75,524 of which were battle deaths.  After their imprisonment for their part in the war, another 26,000-31,000 Confederate personnel died in Union prisons.  With my long history as a prisoner of such forces, I suspect that most of those died due to disease, lack of medical care, mistreatment, and overall poor living conditions.

REBELS WITH A CAUSE:  Rebels, those Confederate Southern Soldiers were called, the proud label worn by those who refused to conform to ways established by a government not of their choosing.  Rebels, a  part of Southern history and Southern Pride for those who died fighting for a cause; not because of slavery or why the politicians decided to fight the Civil War.  It was about fighting to keep what was theirs, fighting those damned Yankees who come down to take their land, who raped their women, murdered their children, and burned their homes in the name of Justice–the same as had been done to Native Americans by several Union troops.

Most Confederate soldiers who fought in the Civil War never owned a slave and most likely never knew why they had to go out and fight, other than to defend their land and heritage.  Firing a gun, running through the woods, and working hard to survive came more natural to the Southern man who grew up hunting and fishing to survive, than it did to the Union troops. You can believe that when Union forces heard the rebel yell and saw those southern soldiers waving the Confederate Flag and charging like bulls, that it made adrenaline and cortisol levels soar, instilling fear in everyone’s heart before the battle began with a brutality not known to the men and boys who stood fighting for their lives.  Early into battle, Union troops learned to retreat or die when overran by Confederates who fought with a passion to defend their land against the invaders.

Read the complete blog at https://straightfromthepen.com/2015/07/06/southern-pride-waving-a-confederate-flag/