Our Society - What is the Deal?

I was watching the Today Show this morning, as I usually do, and I was bothered by something. I have a problem with our news anchors, our media, our society as a whole.
I am going to tell you why and I ask that you hear me out and listen to what I am saying and why.

America is a wonderful country. We the people have rights and privileges that people in other countries envy. I am proud to be an American citizen, however I am not always proud of America.

My first grip, the big new today is who is the real father of Anna Nicole’s baby Danny Lynn. I am thankful for that child that she will know who here biological father is. I feel sympathetic for the family and all that they have gone through in the last few months, but is it really national news? Should it be?

I look at all the things going on in our nation that could be being reported about and taken care of, yet never are. We would rather spend air time talking about American Idol, Anna Nicole, who is Justin Timberlake dating, is Brittany in rehab? They all have their own lives, let them live them and we really don’t need to know about it. I do hope them all well, but I don’t think it helps any of them if it makes national news.

Ok, now let me turn to the shock jock with the inappropriate racial slurs. First I have to ask, are their appropriate ones? No there isn’t. While I think that yes, we as a nation should be paying attention to this, and people are calling for him to be fired for what he said. He of course is telling people what a wonderful and nice person he is and this was a mistake and he is apologizing for it.

This is what I have to say to him, an apology doesn’t make it go away. Maybe if you were telling people how wrong what you said was, and offer a way to show people that you are truly sorry it would make a difference. I tell my kids, that if you say you are sorry and you truly mean it then you will not repeat the behavior. Correct me if I am wrong, but this is a repeated behavior for this man. Lastly, if you were genuinely a nice person, you wouldn’t have to be proclaiming it all over the place the people would already know that and defend you on that. I have not heard anyone defending him.

I believe it was Matt Lauer interviewing a very intelligent woman about this matter and she made a comment that some are saying that this is just the way society is, and she has a problem with that. So do I. Just because that is the way things are doesn’t mean that it is right. We here in America are a passive society when it comes to taking care of things here at home. We are ready to take on the world and tell them how to live, and fight battles that are not our battles, but we can’t fix what needs to fixed here.

In college, I fought with my professor in one of my law classes over why it was illegal to walk into a crowded building and yell fire, but not illegal to stand outside and throw racial slurs at people starting a riot. His response is Freedom of Speech. My argument, both situations spark fear, anger and violence. The later of the two situations I believe even more intentional then the first. To me they both should be illegal.
We need to remember that Freedom of Speech is a privilege, not a right. Privileges can be taken away, they can be altered, they can be changed and if they are being abused then they need to be re-evaluated. There is a punishment that happens when a privilege is used incorrectly. People need to think before they open their mouth. I preach this to my daughter daily, she is 12 and likes to say things without thinking. I ask her why she said that, and her response is almost always “I don’t know” or “I’m sorry”. My question is “Why?”

Maybe if we all could take a deep breath the next time we start to open our mouth and say something that we actually think before it comes out our society would be a better place.

So hear is my advice, Mr. Shock Jock should be sent to an inner city school and made to volunteer his time to help improve the education of the children there. He should write a letter to the nation and it should printed in every major newspaper about how wrong what he said was, how he abused his right to Freedom of Speech and his position in broadcasting.

We should stop being such a passive society when it comes to injustices here at home. There should be no double standards.

My wish is that for one year, the United States brought all their troops home to protect our borders here. Allow the brave soldiers to protect home from within and be with their families. Let healing begin. I know with all of our troops here, we would be safer and more protected then what we are now with them scattered all over the world.

For that year, I want our borders shut down and I want our government to tell the world that we need to take care of home right now and fix what ails us to make this country the great country that it proclaims itself to be. We can not help anyone else for those 365 days, they world will have to take care of itself. Lead by example not war. Stop telling other countries how to run and treat their people, show them how to do it.

With all the money that would be saved if we did that, we could be out of debt. Our schools could be properly funded and our children’s education would be what it should be, complete. They would have art and music and athletics. All children would be getting the education that they needed.

Go to the homeless shelters and help those people get on their feet by teaching them a trade, or getting them an education and showing them a way out. Don’t give them welfare, don’t make it impossible for them to keep their dignity and pride, help them. Make sure those children in the shelters are getting a good education to break the cycle, don’t make them doomed to be in the same place 30 years from now.

Then when we are on the road to recovery and life here is improving for EVERYONE, look at the world and ask who needs help. Don’t assume that we need to go into every country and fight a war or a battle to make that country run the way we think it should, protecting our interest in what ever that country has to offer us. Because we will have taken care of what should be our greatest concern and national interest, OUR PEOPLE.