“We, the people of the United States.” Which “We, the people”? The women were not included. -Lucy Stone (Taken from the book, Wit & Wisdom of Famous American Women)

Lucy Stone was a suffragist in the 1800′s, who, I freely admit I had never heard of until I read this quote and looked her up. This quote was written at a time when women were not allowed to vote and had pretty much no say in anything. It is because of women like her that I, as a woman, have the freedom to state my opinion in this blog and can vote for whoever I choose. Unfortunately, sometimes I feel like we seem to be going backwards in a lot of ways even as we are going forward in time. I am NOT big on talking or ranting about political issues in any way so I tend to stay far away from them as much as possible, BUT recently I heard about something that happened that really infuriated me and bothered me. I just HAVE to rant about it and not be silent.

Here in America, we have Freedom of Speech, which is the right to speak without censorship. This includes vocal speech as well as written, but we all know, there ARE boundaries. We are not free to commit libel or slander someone, even though we all know politicians do this freely. We are not allowed to be overly obscene and we aren’t supposed to incite others into committing a crime. Other than those basics, we are supposed to be allowed freedom of speech.

That being said, I will get to the event that caused me frustration. One of my husband’s best friends was passing out flyers telling people about a wrestling show that was held last night in a small(as in less than 1,000 people town) about 15 minutes from where we live. While handing out the flyers, NOT forcing people to take them or come, just simply handing them out, his friend got stopped by a cop and ordered to LEAVE the town. WHY? An individual from another country saw the words, “Support our troops” at the bottom of the flyer and got offended, therefore calling the cops. Because of the one individual, he had to leave the whole town. Seriously? When I heard this story, I was offended personally and I know there are a lot of people in America that would be offended, especially anyone related to the troops as well as the troops themselves. No one was forcing anything on this man and he could have simply thrown away the flyers if he had been that offended. Should all Americans that support troops be silenced and disallowed to voice that?

Support means to maintain an institution or provide for it by supplying things it needs. We ALL actively support tons of things we may or may not agree with when we pay taxes. When we buy items at the store, the employees and the managers get some of that money and for all we know, they could be using it in ways that offend us. Unfortunately, we have to pay taxes and we have to pay for water, shelter, food, etc. I think people seem to have a deep misunderstanding of the difference between support and agreement. I realize there are people out there that do not agree with the war situation, they don’t agree with the fighting and they want it to end. The people over there fighting are some one’s husband, wife, mother, father, sister, brother, etc. Whether or not you agree with what THEY are ordered to do, I feel we ALL should at least respect they are doing their job. People should also respect the origins of their own freedoms. The only reason people from other countries can come to America, start a new life and have equal rights is because of Veterans who fought so we ALL could be free.

I do not know this guy’s story. Maybe soldiers killed his family or something, but he still is living in America where the only reason he has a better life is because people once upon a time fought so we ALL could have freedoms. Having the attitude where if someone mentions supporting the troops then you want to see them punished or removed from town is NOT a good way of getting people to sympathize with you or even relate to you…Like I said, supporting is not the same as agreeing.

Another definition of Support is to undergo or endure, especially with patience or submission; to tolerate. I like that definition for purposes of this rant because I feel this world has become obsessed with tolerance. But we seem to have failed to understand that tolerance can’t exactly be one sided. If a person can’t tolerate a little wrestling flyer because it says “Support our troops”, then how can he or she expect people that are veterans or strong troops supporters to have any desire of tolerating them? Just being honest here. You can’t have one sided tolerance. You can’t scream, “have tolerance, support me even if you don’t agree with me” while not doing the same yourself. Think of it as the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Tolerate others if you want them to tolerate you.” Think about it turned around….a flyer for wrestling with the words, “Support Foreigners”. A person gets offended and has the person kicked out of town…..For some reason, I think there would be a huge outrage to ensue and a big news story…but maybe that’s just MY opinion.

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Giving Thanks Day #5: With this post, it’s hard to think about it and still remain thankful for freedom, but regardless of this incident, we still ARE further than we once were. I am thankful for being able to still express my views in a blog without the fear that I will be beaten or killed. There are other countries, that as a woman, if I had just said all I said, I would probably be hunted down and killed. Because of that, I AM Thankful for having Freedom….even when there are times, where Freedom seems Free only for those who say what the government or politicians would prefer for you to say. I fear a day when I will no longer be able to speak freely, but am thankful I still can for now!

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The Results of the Weekly Photo Challenge Hidden Quiz!

Sorry, you had to read so much to get here…if you indeed DID, Thanks for that!

The #’s of the Pictures that were me and NOT my middle sister were:

2,3,5,7,9, and 10….The others were of my sister Sherri.

There were some good guesses…While #4 WAS my sister and not me, there’s a picture somewhere that looks a lot like that one but was from the newspaper, making it black and white….so Black and White wasn’t necessarily a give away that it wasn’t me!

Beckah-You only missed #3 being me, but since you’re family, well…..I can say Good Job but not declare you a winner….My hubby answered in person and got them all right!

Eliz-You said they ALL looked like me except for #6 and since that one is not me…..you missed 3, the 3 that were not me!

Dayle-All the ones you picked were right, except for one, #8′s my sister! And you missed 3, 9 and 10…so you missed 4, close!

PIP-Good job with #3, you were the only one besides my husband to guess that one right!

Looks like Eliz was the closest, but Dayle, you also were close, so I’m going to just say Congrats to both of you! Tune in tomorrow to see a post dedicated to both of you!

Thanks everyone who commented and guessed!