Independent Thought

As we celebrate Independence Day I pause to wonder if we're all living up to the meaning.

To me, alongside taxation without representation, our grand ongoing experiment in the U.S. is embracing and encouraging independent thought. Are we thinking for ourselves or waiting to be told what to  believe by the loudest extremists on the left and the right?

This brings us to The Dukes of Hazard. What's that Kane, have you lost your mind? Maybe and if you find it you will be lucky indeed. The cable network T.V. Land has announced it will no longer show reruns of the 1980's series. Citing the fact that the car, the General Lee, has a Confederate Flag on the roof. Apparently toy replicas will also no longer be made, I was unaware they were being made.

This show was very popular in the ratings when it first ran. I watched it from time to time and the only influence it had on me was to wish there were better shows to watch. It was not a deep show and the plot quite easy to follow. It was buffoonery to the max. If you don't want to watch it, I don't, then don't watch it.

If we are to begin the path of reviewing T.V. shows for their P.C. status be very careful, I could produce a list of Golden Age series that don't measure up.

I am reminded of attempts in recent years to edit out offensive words from the works of Mark Twain. Censorship is unacceptable in books, moronic T.V. shows and what I wish to say in the public square. I'm not talking about the yelling fire in a theater argument which is the default position of those who have no other argument to make concerning free speech. All rational people know that you cannot yell fire in that place simply because you want to.

Free speech includes the good, the bad and the ugly. If we are not prepared to defend it, then the Holiday that is the 4th of July is not worth celebrating and we truly don't know it's most basic meaning.

Make no mistake, I don't fly the Confederate Flag and don't believe it should fly on government buildings anywhere but I draw the line at any attempt to whitewash this issue and pretend that a cloth emblem dictates the philosophy of the human heart and mind. Do not pretend that pulling a rerun or refusing to sell a flag alters in anyway the hatred of racism and all forms of bigotry.
That change occurs one person at a time and requires doing the hard lifting of actually having a dialogue. Principally between parent and child. The example set by the adults directly involved in the child's life is what charts the course.

A television network is a commercial enterprise and has the right to do whatever it wants. I will fight for their right to do what they think is in their best interest but I have to wonder where was their concern previous to the events of last week?

Have a wonderful and I hope thoughtful Independence Day!