Category: Trump

Dear Me

Published on by Sharron BurnettLeave a comment

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Dear Me,

Hey Girl, I’m writing to you because you seem rather anxious about our new president and the general state of the union. I know you better than anyone and I’m thinking that it’s time for a bit of self reflection. I realize that you are still trying to grasp how you so misjudged the election. You were quite certain that Donald Trump would be soundly rejected by the voters and sent on his merry way back to his tower in New York City. I was there when you wrote your blogs detailing why you felt that he should not be elected and I recall the moment when you joined the ranks of the #Never Trump movement. You were convinced that you were being quite noble and that your fellow citizens would follow your lead. It just made sense, right? Now Mr. Trump is President Trump and you and those who think like you are in a bit of a tizzy.

Surely you have to know that you won’t be able to maintain your hyped up level of indignation and concern every day for the next four years. You will likely burn out and be ignored unless you mend your ways, so for what it’s worth here is a bit of advice from yourself that just might help.

You were a good teacher. You had a knack for dealing with difficult students. Why don’t you remember some of the methods that served you so well in the classroom? After all, President Trump is very much like some of those kids who were determined to divert your attention from the important task of teaching. You understood then as you should now that reacting to every single behavior with negativity only insured that your classroom would become a nonproductive battlefield. Think about how self-fulfilling prophecies generally compound problems. If you can only find fault and never show a willingness to compliment and reinforce positive attempts on the part of our president then he will surely give up even trying to please you. Think of that one thing that he may have done that made you feel a bit more comfortable and let him know that you appreciated his effort. If it was nominating Nicky Haley for a cabinet position then tell him thank you for demonstrating some wisdom in that pick.

As both a parent and an educator you understood that it was important to choose your battles wisely. Some things just aren’t worth arguing about. Think of the issues that mean the most to you and save your ammunition for those. If you think the idea of building a wall between the United States and Mexico is ridiculous then make that one of your premiere causes. Let your representatives know how you feel. Be ready to take your trailer to Big Bend National Park for a protest if there is even a second of talk about destroying the natural beauty of the area with an ugly fence. Urge your lawmakers to enact immigration reform that is just and humane. Make this your priority and let the small things go. It doesn’t matter at all if President Trump wants to believe that he had millions and millions of attendees at his inauguration. Let him play the role of the dotty uncle with his outrageous boasts and look the other way.

Don’t allow yourself to be pulled into the name calling. Always do what you know is right. Answering ugliness with more ugliness is never the proper way of doing things. Insist that President Trump’s little boy be off limits and that any comments about his wife be respectful. You have almost always managed to keep your cool even when a student or parent was cursing you. Tell yourself that you will stay above the fray. When you get into the gutter you lose your credibility. Don’t let that happen.

You have always been someone who is open to different points of view. Don’t stop being that way. Be willing to listen to the people who earnestly believe that our new president will be good for the country. Find out why they feel that way. Don’t be ready with an argument for everything that they have to say. Give them the benefit of the doubt. They are in all probability as convinced of the rightness of their convictions are you are. Be patient with them.

In the classroom you were always vigilant. You learned how to expect the unexpected. Pay attention to the political world. Do research. Beware of soundbites and catch phrases. Understand that propaganda is floating all around you. Find the facts for yourself. Learn the full context of statements and actions that trouble you. Consider pros and cons. Embrace a full spectrum of ideas.

You have suggested to President Trump that he not be so quick to tweet or post his feelings. Follow your own advice. Most people really don’t care what you think one way or another. They are weary of the haggling and would prefer to keep things lighthearted. It is very doubtful that you will change someone’s mind but very likely that you will anger them if you are always disagreeable. Save your comments for those who might be able to actually do something about the issues. Let your Senator and your Congressperson know what you think. They were elected to serve you. They need to be aware of what you want. If they don’t respond in the way that you prefer then vote them out when they come up for reelection. You have that right, so use it.

Mostly I would remind you that life has always been a marathon rather than a race. You will collapse into a breathless heap if you run at full tilt all of the time. Find a comfortable pace and save your energy for those moments when you need to really turn on the speed. Develop a sense of humor and learn to laugh at the silliness, remembering that much of it is indeed silliness.

Surely experience has taught you that this too shall pass. You have endured some daunting challenges over the decades and come out mostly unscathed. You know you’ve got this if you take good care of yourself and your loved ones. You don’t have to be a constant warrior. Enjoy the beauty of the world that is all around you. There is still much to celebrate each day. It may be a trite platitude but the song was right. Don’t worry. Be happy. We’ve got this.

Yours,

The voice of your heart

Dear Sir

Published on by Sharron BurnettLeave a comment

dear-sir-business-letter-4616080Dear President Trump,

By now you are no doubt getting to work in earnest. I suppose that I never dreamed that you would one day be our nation’s leader and I sometimes wonder if deep down inside you are just as surprised by your new title as I am. Anyway, many months ago I also wrote a letter to my friend, Hillary Clinton, giving her some well intentioned advice for her campaign. I feel comfortable calling her my friend even though I have never actually met her because she sent me a very nice letter in which she addressed me as her “dear friend.” She even sent me a bumper sticker which I saved in a special place with my treasured George McGovern buttons, so naturally I truly wanted to help her in her quest for the presidency. Sadly she had other advisors and didn’t take my well intentioned ideas seriously. Now I am offering you some unsolicited comments in the hopes that you will find a new voice that will speak to all of us as you guide our country.

I must be transparent in admitting to you that I did not vote for you. In fact, I wrote a number of blogs, tweets and Facebook posts in opposition to your candidacy. Nonetheless I am an imminently practical person and I understand all too well that if your term as president is unsuccessful we will all suffer. Since you claim to only be concerned about the well being of our nation and not your own personal gain herewith are some ideas that I think might help you to transition into your role and become the patriot that you say you are.

First and foremost you must rise to the seriousness and nobility of your new job with the example of our very first president, George Washington, in mind. That means that you must remember that you are here to serve the people of the United States of America. It is not about you, it is about us. Nothing else matters but upholding the oath that you made on Friday. Keep those thirty five words in a place where you can see them at all times. Think about what they mean anytime that you choose to speak or make a decision. Focus on the real issues and not the pettiness. Don’t allow yourself to go off on meaningless tangents that bait you into sounding small and selfish. So what if members of media post photographs claiming to show that the crowd for your inauguration was smaller than that of your predecessor. Nobody really cares about such things. Learn to ignore the ridiculous and definitely do not make yourself appear to be a bad sport by twisting the truth into a contortion of silly explanations. Let it go. Learn to smile and say, “It was a beautiful day that I truly enjoyed and I am excited about working for the American people. That is all that matters to me.”

The most beautiful and reassuring moment of inauguration day came when your beautiful wife and Mrs. Obama stood on the steps of the White House holding hands. That is the image that you should continue to display, one of generosity and reconciliation. The campaign is over. It is no longer about winning, it is about rolling up your sleeves and working with every citizen of this country, not just those who are your adoring fans. You have the opportunity to win over dubious souls like me but it won’t happen if you continue to be aggressive and petulant. Be willing to genuinely listen even to your detractors. Note to yourself that you missed an amazing opportunity to demonstrate your leadership when you neglected to compliment the women who marched around the world on Saturday. You might have reveled in the sight of democracy at work and reassured them that you have every intention of working for and with them. How great would it have been if you or your wife or one of your daughters had gone to speak with them and learn what was in their hearts. Taking that first step toward understanding one another would have been extraordinarily powerful and you missed it. Instead you chose instead to insult the CIA on the day of the march when you visited their home base. That is such bad form. We no longer need to hear what you think is wrong with America. We need to see you fixing the problems by working with the agencies and people that are experiencing difficulties. Start by noting what they are doing right and then asking them how you can help them fix what is wrong.

You have surrounded yourself with mostly incredibly loyal individuals who echo your beliefs. That is a natural thing to do but I would suggest that you also include people who are unafraid to tell you when they believe that you are making a mistake. You will fail if you live in a bubble of agreeable drones. You need to have a strong confidante who will face you with facts and not simply concur when it is patently obvious that you are wrong. Your press secretary really made of fool of you and himself this weekend when he argued about the size of the crowd at your inauguration. It was a really bad start to your administration. Find someone right now who will help you to turn things around. Don’t begin your tenure with a situation that is far too similar to the storytelling about a video causing a spontaneous attack in Benghazi. The people who voted for you surely expect better. Try to remember that the truth will set you free and as long as you are always honest you never have to worry about being caught in a lie. The American people will admire you more if you are willing to demonstrate enough humility to admit to missteps and show a genuine intent to set things right.

Quit complaining about the press. Nobody likes a whiner. Do what you need to do to keep our country moving and let the people decide how well you are executing your job. We are smart enough to determine whether or not our journalists are reporting the facts or editorializing. We don’t need your constant bashing of their efforts. Be better than that. It is unbecoming of the office for you to be so combative. State your case and then let it go, which also means controlling those tendencies that you have to dash off insulting tweets. You need to lock your phone inside your desk and pay more attention to your job and less to those who troll and taunt you.

I can tell that you want people to like you. That is a natural tendency that we all have. The truth is that no matter who you are there will always be detractors. Even Mother Theresa was the subject of crushing critiques. Show that you are genuinely concerned about all of the American people and you will begin to win more hearts. When you are aware of the needs of others and not just your own people will notice. You don’t need to brag and boast, in fact it is an unbecoming trait. Be the kind and charming person that many who know you insist that you are. Let us all see that side of your personality which so far has been missing. In other words quit being so mean spirited. It is off putting and embarrassing. I know that there will be times when you have to be forceful but don’t make a habit of always humiliating anyone who disagrees with you.

Be willing to change course when needed. No idea is so sacred that it should be protected even when it is shown to be flawed. That even goes for your initial selections of individuals for your cabinet. It doesn’t take a great deal of observation to see for example that Betsy Devos is not suited to be the Secretary of Education. She has no real life experience in classrooms and her ideas are far too simplistic for the complexities of the problems that she will face. Surely there are people who are far better suited for the job. Thank Ms. Devos for her willingness to help but find someone who has the gravitas to actually make a difference. God knows that we need to shore up our educational systems. After forty years of working directly with children and teachers I know all too well that there is still much needed work and improvement to be done.

I don’t want to rattle on for too long. You have so much to think about and a letter that is too lengthy will surely be ignored. Once again I wish you the best. I love this country and thank God every single day that I was lucky enough to be born here. Please know that like you I have many ideas about how to keep our nation as great as it has always been. I believe that we have the capacity to be better but that will require all of us to work together with a willingness to consider multiple points of view. Nobody should be exiled from a seat at the table. Please at least consider some of my suggestions. They were presented with an earnest desire to help you to achieve the greatness to which you seem to aspire. I would like nothing better than to watch you evolve into a man for all of the people.

Yours truly,

Sharron Little Burnett

Children Will Listen

Published on by Sharron BurnettLeave a comment

banner2For some this will be a day of celebration, for others disappointment. Forty four times we have inaugurated a new President of these United States and in each instance the transition of power from one man to another has been peaceful even if not enthusiastic. It is how our government was designed to work. Today the forty fifth man will utter the Oath of Office that has been repeated so many times according the Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of the president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Those thirty five words invest an awesome responsibility into the hands of someone who is only a human being, which makes fulfilling the mandate even more difficult than any of us might ever imagine. Not everyone who has held the highest office in our land has been up to the job but in virtually every case our country has somehow muddled through even the most tempestuous times. I would like to believe that the majority of the men who sat in the White House have felt the full import of leading our country. It has been said that taking that oath is a sobering moment.

Donald J. Trump will soon be the president. He was not my choice but many of the individuals who have held that title were not the person for whom I voted. There have been twelve different heads of state in my lifetime starting with Harry Truman and ending with Barack Obama. Now Donald Trump will be a member of that very exclusive group. I honestly wish him well because if he fails we will all feel the effects of his ineptitude. For the sake of our country I pray that he will embrace his duties in a spirit of considering all of us. I want him to see his job as one of serving each and every man, woman and child without reference to party affiliation. I hope that he will rise above partisanship and that his motives in making any decisions will be based on careful consideration of what is right and just for we, the people. I wish more than anything that he will be able to set his own selfish needs aside and that he will work with humility and a realization that nothing that he does should ever be about legacy or popularity. It should always be based on the oath that he has sworn to follow with God and mankind as his witnesses.

I pray that Donald Trump will be safe from harm. Violence toward our leaders has never lead to solutions of our problems. There are proper avenues for voicing our concerns. Our system of checks and balances will function well as long as all of us remember how necessary that way of operating has always been. It will also serve us to give President Trump credit when he does something right rather than being against his every move and utterance. We have had so much of that type of behavior for such a long time and we have accomplished little more than alienating ourselves from one another. We have in many ways stagnated because of politics based more on winners and losers than what is needed for the progress and vitality of our nation. It’s time for more of the kind of profiles in courage that President John Kennedy lauded in his Pulitzer Prize winning book that told of individuals who bravely stood up for what was best for the nation.

It is difficult for me to be particularly excited about this day and yet the very fact that we are able to pass the baton of leadership from one man to another in such a peaceful manner is cause for joy. I celebrate that I have been and will be able to assert my beliefs without worry of being silenced. There are few places in the world where that is a  reality. I don’t actually feel that we have to make America great again because I think that it is already one of the most wonderful places to live on the planet even with its issues. Our goal should simply be to continue to make it better and to realize that such a task is never truly complete.

We all know that there are a multitude of difficulties that we face as a nation. I’m not nearly naive or idealistic enough to believe that we will do so without major disagreements. It is virtually impossible to please everyone in a family much less a country as populated and diverse as ours. Still I desire more than anything for our leaders to demonstrate the wisdom and nobility that is needed to understand and bind our wounds. We citizens must do our parts as well by helping to dispel so much of the anger and divisiveness that has characterized our society for far too long.

There is a song in the musical Into the Woods called Children Will Listen which seems quite appropriate on this day as we watch our government at work:

How do you say to your child in the night?

Nothing’s all black, but then nothing’s all white.

How do you say it will be all right

When you know that it might not be true?

What do you do?

Careful the things you say

Children will listen

Careful the things you do

Children will see and learn

Children may not obey, but children will listen

Children will look to you for which way to turn

To learn what to be.

Careful before you say, “Listen to me.”

I do not and never have pretended to know all the answers. Audacity and self-righteousness can be lethal. It is all right to admit that we may be wrong about certain things and that answers are not always as clear as we might want them to be. To tackle the issues that lie before us will require a willingness to listen to one another just as the children listen to us with an eye to remembering that what we do today will affect our little ones tomorrow. As the song says, the spell we cast may last past what we can see. Let us all pledge to encourage our leaders, especially our new president, to make choices that are in keeping with liberty and justice for all. God bless and be with the United States of America. The children will be listening.

Our Greatest Gift

Published on by Sharron BurnettLeave a comment

bn-fi133_speech_gs_20141031151239I have long been a voracious reader, a willing student of things both old and new. I enjoy considering ideas and long for the days of my youth when academic institutions were places of free discussion, fountains of information from multiple avenues of consideration. I was taught by my academic mentors to be open to points of view different from my own and to listen carefully to even the strangest sounding arguments, for within even the ridiculous there is much to be learned. “Perception often defines individual truth” my professors suggested. Our beliefs are built on the foundations of our unique experiences. Our thinking is the sum total of the knowledge that we have learned and the emotions that we have felt. Our outlooks are slowly programmed as we travel through life. Unless we are willing to understand the totality of what has brought an individual to a particular conviction our arguments for or against will fall on deaf ears.

I loved the frankness of unforgettable discussions from my college days. We were encouraged to feel comfortable with a variety of philosophies. Our reading lists often included the works of thinkers who ran the gamut from the far left to the far right. We were told not to blindly accept any argument but rather to consider both the pros and cons of everything that we encountered. Lemmings and sheep were rarely welcome in the classrooms of my youth. We debated each idea on its merits and everyone felt free to hold a forum. The experience was exciting and it molded me into the open minded person that I have always attempted to be.

In the present days we seem to have adopted a different way of approaching conflicting ideas. The debates of old have evolved into wars of words. Certain ideas are not even allowed to be uttered. We are more often than not forced to choose sides even before we hear the totality of the arguments. Those who suggest that we look for compromise in thinking are thought to be non-thinkers, weaklings unwilling to take a stand. We are told that we must be on the right side of history as though there is a clear and concise way of determining which side that is. Our leaders expect us to be automatons who utter our beliefs in unison and without thoughts or questions. I shutter whenever I hear the same lines being repeated regardless of whether they come from the right or the left. Too many of us have become consumers of propaganda, believers without doing research. We follow the boy who cried wolf rather than the one who pointed out that the emperor has no clothes.

I have had to counsel college students who received failing grades on persuasive papers not because their arguments were not rational and grounded in research but because they did not regurgitate their professors’ points of view. I have spoken with young people who fear making their true beliefs known lest they become ostracized. I have watched friendships dissolve over conflicting philosophies. I wonder when our democratic society began to forget the importance of the liberty imbedded in our right to freedom of speech.

I came of age in turbulent times. My male peers were being sent to a war that many of us questioned and others supported. The dream of full integration for our Black brothers and sisters was yet to be fulfilled. My own religion was being transformed from an archaic Latin based liturgy to one that embraced many languages and tore down barriers between the clergy and the congregation. Women were forging new territory in careers once thought to be the exclusive domain of men. There was an excitement in the conversations that we had with one another. Sometimes we found ourselves in the company of friends whose thoughts were diametrically opposed to ours. We gathered around tables and debated sometimes heatedly but always in the spirit of learning. We almost always walked away with our friendships intact despite our differences.

Open debate is frowned upon today. We politely avoid topics that might bring about conflicts. We no longer know how to enjoy a lively discussion without becoming emotional. We spout sound bites rather than reasoned ideas. We close our minds and leave the room if anyone dares to utter political notions. Our feelings are so easily hurt. It is a sad state of affairs.

I find myself missing my mother-in-law more and more. She and I used to sit at her dining room table enjoying tea and cookies while our husbands watched football on Sunday afternoons. She was a convert to conservatism and I was still in my intensely radical progressivism days. We often spoke about the history of the world and the possibilities of its future. She wanted to know what I thought about the economy, international relations, religion and other subjects that would be taboo in most of today’s polite circles. She always listened with respect and then quietly presented her own reflections. We learned from each other without judgement. She was a brilliant woman who might have been intimidating had she simply closed her mind to what I had to say. Instead she taught me the power of truly open debate among friends. It is difficult to find such enjoyable adversaries like her in the super charged environment as we begin 2017.

I suspect that I am not the only one who is weary of the unofficial civil war that is waging across the globe. I’d like to think that our teachers and professors will one day return to a way of teaching our young that allows for great freedom in the exchange of ideas. I would like to see an end to the rampant use of group think in our institutions. We need more reality television like the thought provoking debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley that were so popular in the late sixties. I want our news reporters to state facts, not opinions. I would rather have them ask questions and then simply listen rather than arguing and attempting to push their own opinions on all of us. I will miss Gwen Ifill because she was one of the few journalists who always remained fair minded

I was impressed by something that Van Jones of CNN recently did. Rather than repeating the idea that those who voted for Donald Trump are mostly deplorable woman hating racists he set out to learn what had really prompted them to give their nod to Trump. He travelled to different parts of the country and sat informally across from Trump voters encouraging them to talk while he listened. What he found was that their main motivation was in wanting to be heard. They felt as though they had been forgotten and somehow Trump had made them believe that they were as important as anyone in America. It was not hatred that drove them to the polls but a sense of longing to be noticed.

In the long history of the world people have time and again asked for the freedom to voice their personal concerns and to state their ideas for solving problems. It has only been when humans have been willing to consider alternative points of view that progress has been made. Our Founding Fathers understood that. They set up a republic rather than a pure democracy because they realized that it was a way to hear the voices of even those in remote corners of the nation rather than only those in our most populated areas. They long ago sat through a hot summer risking their very lives so that we might one day be able to speak our minds without fear of being silenced or imprisoned. They heard the different voices from the colonies and compromised to insure that farmers would have as much power as industrialists. They found consensus between great thinkers as different at John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, those who advocated for a strong federal government and those intent on guarding the rights of the individual states. Their genius, with the help of James Madison, eventually gave us freedom of speech in a Bill of Rights that was unmatched in the history of the world.

Let us think twice before we continue to abridge our right to peaceably assemble or petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Let’s honor our differences rather than recoil from them. There is still room in this country for both the Black Lives Matter Movement and the Tea Party, for socialists and libertarians, for democrats and republicans. We might all want to become better acquainted with the members of each group and open our minds to what they are trying to say. Freedom of speech is perhaps our greatest gift as citizens let us all encourage its unfettered exercise.

Protest

Published on by Sharron BurnettLeave a comment

sub-buzz-12474-1473464621-1.jpgAll Americans have heard of the Boston Tea Party. The dumping of tea into the harbor was an act of defiance against the government of Britain, a protest. Our country was founded on the idea of freedom. Our first amendment in the Bill of Rights beautifully and succinctly outlines the rights of every citizen in only forty five words. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” 

It is sometimes difficult to accept the spirit of the First Amendment, especially when someone is espousing ideas that run counter to our own, but our Founding Fathers rather wisely understood that to have true liberty we must be willing to hear differing points of view. Of late there have been a number of incidents that have troubled various factions but in each case the First Amendment has protected the perpetrators just as it should.

Our President-Elect voiced his disapproval of those who burn the flag of the United States, even indicating his belief that there should be a law making such defamations illegal. The reality is that the Supreme Court has on more than one occasion upheld the right to demonstrate dissatisfaction by setting the flag on fire. There is nothing illegal about doing so and to pass a law making it a crime would be to wander from the original intent of the men who set up our rules. While it may be an odious gesture in some people’s minds it actually demonstrates the free exercise of democracy in one of its most dramatic forms. I believe that it is a powerful sign of the extreme liberty that we all enjoy even though it is something that I would never choose to do.

The protests at Standing Rock are yet another indication that our First Amendment rights are alive and well. In a wonderful bit of irony it has been our Native Americans whose ancestors did not enjoy the perks of citizenship who have used the very tactics that those early patriots in Boston demonstrated before the Revolutionary War began. Whether we agree with their cause or not, they have every right to peacefully voice their grievances. Their chanting is yet another beautiful display of the rights that all of us possess. To even consider that they should not be allowed to show their disdain is to chip away at the First Amendment and all that it implies.

Most recently the founder of the Alt Right spoke at Texas A&M University. He was not invited or sanctioned by the university but simply rented space on campus much as many different groups and organizations regularly do. His invective and ideas are despicable and fly in the face of all for which we should stand as decent human beings but when all is said and done he has every right to spew his hateful speech. To think otherwise is to question the validity of our Bill of Rights. As painful as it may seem to hear the rantings of such an individual, the intent of the authors of the First Amendment was to allow every one of us to have a voice, even those whose words are vile.

I find the Alt Right to be disgusting in every possible way but I also want to know what such people are thinking. It is important that we know their thoughts for it is only in realizing what they are about that we will be able to combat them with reason and truth. Simply shutting them down will only drive them underground and make them even more menacing.

Universities in particular should be centers of the free exchange of ideas, even those that are questionable. Students should learn how to critically assess philosophies and beliefs. Being shielded from the words of deplorable individuals only shelters young people from reality rather than teaching them how to deal with it. At Texas A&M a contingent of students and faculty members met the Alt-Right head on with a counter rally that was five times larger than the one held by the white supremacist group. In a peaceful manner they registered their dissent while still adhering to the basic tenets of freedom of speech.

Years ago I took my young daughter to the University of Texas in Austin where she was enrolled as a freshman. As we walked around campus we came upon a free speech area that had been an integral part of the campus for decades. We learned that this was a spot where all students had the right to express their opinions. Out of respect for liberty they would be safe regardless of how absurd their beliefs might be. I saw this sanctuary as a sign that the university was a fountain of learning and excellence and I was happy that my daughter would be in such a place. It did not matter to me what she might hear there, only that she would be exposed to a multitude of ideas from which to ultimately form her own.

Our First Amendment allows me to write about my own thinking each day. If I point out the flaws of our political leaders I am safe as long as I do not threaten them. If I state my religious views I am safe as long as I do not advocate forcing others to agree with me. It is an amazing gift to be able to be so freely open with my ideas. There are few places on earth where the citizens are so protected in that regard and if I were ever to fight fiercely for any concept it would be to preserve the liberty invoked by that incredible and brilliant addition to our Constitution.

I believe that it is up to each of us to stand firm in protecting the rights of our First Amendment. Sometimes it is difficult to take some of the people and groups who enjoy the same liberties as we do, but it is necessary to speak out for them as well. We don’t have to agree with what they believe or have to say but we must affirm their right to do so. The very fact that we continue to have reasons to discuss these rights is evidence that our freedoms are still very much alive and well. The day that we infringe them will be the day that we should all take to the streets in protest just as our Founding Fathers and all patriotic Americans would expect us to do.