Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Monday, September 12, 2016
Amid all the memes and the prayers and the outright lies about 9/11, one veteran dared say something that didn't follow the "sacred" rules. And Facebook shat on him for it.
Jim Wright is a navy veteran of 25 years. He owns firearms. He is a certified instructor in use of same. Until recently, he lived in the wilds of Alaska, working in his wood shop, herding cats, and keeping a popular web site called
Stonekettle Station.
Oh, and he's a liberal, which seems to have pissed of a hell of a lot of people to the point that his
essay on 9/11 was removed from Facebook. Facebook's reason is that it violated community standards.
(UPDATE: He's not a liberal. He's kind of all over the map on some things, but given the political climate, it's easy to make the assumption he's a liberal.)
Wait a minute. Facebook allows people to post conspiracy theories, question the president's birth, call for the assassination of our leaders and presidential candidates. And yet, when these same people who vehemently stand up for their rights to post this utter bullshit get offended by a veteran who pisses on their "freedom" parade, they make sure the post gets taken down. Hypocritical, much?
Wright's post went viral on Facebook, and the site has been busy swatting down all copies of it they can find. And yet, the very people he offended still get to go around calling him all sorts of nasty names and crowing because they got his post taken down.
I don't have to agree with what Wright says to defend his right to say it. He spent 25 years putting his life on the line so I could have the freedom to share my own opinion. Why the hell can't he have his? Is he supposed to toe some imaginary "freedom" line because he once wore a uniform of our armed services?
Just because I can,
I'm posting the link again. Go read it. It may offend the hell out of you, and that's your right. But the next time you complain that liberals are stomping your rights to free speech in the ground, remember that it was conservatives who got this guy's post taken down on Facebook - because they were offended.
Facebook is a private entity, and we agree to its terms of service when we sign up. I didn't sign up for mob rule. I use Facebook to connect with people, and an now reconsidering whether or not it's good for my business to be associated with a company that allows hate speech to be spread on a daily basis while removing posts of people who attack those who spread hate speech.
Go take a look at the article. I'm deliberately not posting an excerpt because Wright's words have been ripped off and used without attribution or payment. Some have twisted his words to mean something else. You need to
read the source and decide for yourself. Yep, I'm deliberately driving traffic to
his site.
Agree or disagree if you wish. But don't get your tighty whities in a wad because he dares to speak an opinion that goes against the grain. Drown it out with your pictures of eagles, your memes without root in truth, your petty name-calling. Just don't try to boot his posts from Facebook while you get to post your own opinion. Someone may very well try to drown yours out next.
(I'm leaving comments open, but my house, my rules. Same goes on Facebook.)