Absolutely Free Speech, by John Ostrander
In addition to my appearances here, I also have a chat site that can be found at World Famous Comics Community. Yes, you’re all invited to come over for a chat if you like. I check in usually several times a day if I’m not drowning in deadlines.
On occasion, we get someone who is abusive and they get told (more or less politely at first; it depends on my mood) to knock it off. Almost invariably, I get informed by the poster that this is a free country and they have the right to “free speech” which generally mans saying whatever they want in whatever manner they want to say it.
At that point, I usually explain that whether or not this really is a “free country” may be debatable but the Comics Community Board (like the Boards here) are for members and that, when you sign up, you agree to behave a certain way. Other sites may not demand that but we did there. Further, it was my discussion board – it has my name on it – and I had my own rules as well. If they didn’t like it, they could go elsewhere. Unlimited, absolute free speech was not guaranteed anywhere in any case.
A lot of people when they claim the right to free speech really don’t know what they’re talking about. So let’s be specific, just for fun.
To start off with, it’s not universal. Lots of places in the world don’t have it and the governments don’t want their people to have it. We have it because it’s in the Constitution; it’s enshrined in the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights which reads as follows: “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.” (more…)
I don’t know much about economics. It’s all voodoo to me. Unfortunately, the same appears to be true of the corporate bosses of Bear Stearns, the “hallowed” investment bank that was sold over the weekend for pennies on the dollar to JPMorgan Chase. That was made possible by a thirty billion (“B” billion, not “M” million) dollar hand-out from the United States Federal Reserve Bank to cover Bear Stearns assets that would be “difficult” to sell off, meaning the U.S taxpayer will be stuck holding that bag.
In today’s brand-new episode of 
There are those of you out there who don’t regard politics as necessarily pop culture. And then there are those of us born in Chicago.
This week’s marks eleven years since the passing of my late wife, Kimberly Yale. The best way to remember people, I’ve found, is through stories – stories you know or stories you’ve heard. Story is what I do. So here are some of the stories by which I remember Kim.
This column has its roots in Mike Gold’s column this week. While it’s not necessary to read Uncle 
Forget whether or not Barack Obama is “black enough.” The newest wrinkle in the Presidential Campaign That Never Ended is whether or not John McCain is “conservative enough.” Evidently, according to two of the biggest conservative blowhards on the air – Rush “Dr. Feelgood” Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, She-Wolf of the Neo-Cons – the answer is “no.”
