Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.
I recognize that half of my readers may share my political point of view and half may not. I believe, now more than ever, in our right of free speech. I have always allowed both negative and positive comments about my blogs to be posted. There will be those who read this blog and will no longer follow it. That is your right.
I feel compelled to write now in defense of our rights and liberties. In our pledge of allegiance it says, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
It acknowledges that we are one nation, undivided. In the face of all that has occurred in our country this past year I no longer believe that, and I am concerned and fear for our country.
Our Constitution and its Amendments ensure our basic rights and freedoms and one of its bedrock Amendments is the very first one, “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.”
These words establish six inalienable rights:
- The right to be free from governmental establishment of religion (known as the Establishment Clause).
- The right to be free from governmental interference with the practice of religion (known as the Free Exercise Clause).
- The right to free speech (even hate speech).
- The right to freedom of the press.
- The right to assemble peacefully (and to associate freely with whomever you choose).
- The right to petition the government of one’s grievances.
Our right to free speech is under assault by social media, the press, a certain class of elites and extreme elements within our county. The duly elected and still President of this county, President Trump, has been permanently banned from the social media site, Twitter, as have many of his supporters. The reason given is that they are instigating violence. Yet vile people like the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, those representing the Chinese Communist Party and Louis Farrakhan remain on Twitter to spew their brands of hatred. Twitter has become an exclusively liberal platform.
I have used Twitter for several years and I know if I were to retweet some things I would be banned as well. Several months ago, I migrated to Parler, an alternative social media posting site. Tonight, I learned the Apple and Google app stores are removing the public’s access to Parler’s app. It has also been reported that Apple is about to deplatform Parler and to stop hosting the site.
Fox News reported that CNN is pressuring cable providers to drop Fox from their offerings. CNN may succeed. I stopped watching Fox months ago and began watching Newsmax and OAN. But, my God, what is happening when a cable news station that leans conservative is under attack? What about the reports of employees being fired for attending the rally at the Capitol? Or the Senator from Missouri, Josh Hawley, whose book deal was cancelled because he led the opposition to question the Electoral College vote tally? What is happening in this country? Rather than trying to bridge our divide, the extremists are pursuing retribution.
This isn’t even close to McCarthyism. It’s worse. I am once again reminded of this,
“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the labor leaders, but I did not speak out because I was not a unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
As one day became another and others disappeared, gypsies, mentally retarded, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, criminals, anti-socials and emigrants, I remained silent because I was not one of them.
Then it was they came for me, but no one spoke for me because by then there was no one left to speak.”
Martin Niemoller,1945.
Under the guise of Covid, our right to practice our religions, as we wish, is also under attack. While bars, grocery stores and big chain stores remain open with crowds of consumers within them, churches and synagogues have been forced to go to court just to maintain their basic right to remain open.
Then there is the issue of the Second Amendment, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The current population of the United States is 326.7 million. There are more guns in the United States than people at 393 million. Did you know in 2020 there were 5 million new gun owners? Under the new administration there will be an assault on gun ownership. Make no mistake, their agenda is to disarm the people.
I am a proud supporter of President Trump. I make no apology for my political beliefs. It is your right to disagree and I would never support the suppression of your right. Do I like everything he has said or done? No, of course not. He should have come out on January 6th and as our President more forcefully condemned the violence at the Capitol.
There is absolutely no justification to attempt to impeach him again with less than 2 weeks left in his Presidency. Nor is it justifiable to invoke the 25th Amendment. The absolute hatred of Trump leads some to seek to destroy the man completely.
But he has many accomplishments that have been good for all of us. He reformed the Veterans Administration and criminal sentencing; created the Right to Try Act; created the Space Force; rebuilt our military; kept us out of war, began establishing a lasting peace process in the Middle East; built 450 miles of the wall; removed business regulations and reduced taxes; and made us energy independent – to name just a few of his accomplishments.
Our country is divided as has occurred only once in its history during our Civil War. The repression and vengeance directed at conservatives will only continue this county’s division. I am deeply concerned. Half of this country, the 74 million people who voted for Trump, should not be denigrated by being called fascists, racists , terrorists and Nazis. The repression and retribution that is happening now will only fuel the passions of those who voted for Trump and know the election was stolen.
I saw the following post on Facebook and so far it has not been taken down,
“Let me be clear, I am not a Biden fan. I think he is corrupt, a liar, a racist bigot, is in bed with China and probably suffering from dementia. He has done nothing to improve anything in his 47-year political career. But what has Trump done in the past 4 years?
The ‘arrogant’ in the White House brokered four Middle East Peace Accords, something that 71 years of political intervention and endless war failed to produce.
The “buffoon” in the White House is the first president that has not engaged us in a foreign war since Eisenhower.
The ‘racist’ in the White House has had the greatest impact on the economy, bringing jobs, and lowering unemployment to the Black and Latino population of ANY other president. Ever.
The ‘liar’ in the White House has exposed the deep, widespread, and long-standing corruption in the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the Republican and Democratic parties.
The ‘buffoon’ in the White House turned NATO around and had them start paying their dues.
The ‘fool’ in the White House neutralized the North Koreans and stopped them sending missiles toward Japan and threatening the West Coast of the US.
The ‘xenophobe’ in the White House turned our relationship with the Chinese around, brought hundreds of businesses back to the US, and revived the economy.
This same ‘clown’ lowered your taxes, increased the standard deduction on your IRS return from $12,500 to $24,400 for married couples and caused the stock market to rise to record levels, positively impacting the retirement accounts of tens of millions of citizens.
The ‘clown” in the White House fast-tracked the development of multiple COVID Vaccines which are now available or will be soon. And yet we still don’t have a vaccine for SARS, Bird Flu, Ebola, or a host of diseases that arose during previous administrations.
The “clown’ in the White House rebuilt our military which the Obama administration crippled and fired 214 key generals and admirals in his first year of office.
I got it, you don’t like him. Many of you utterly hate and despise him. How special of you. He is serving you and ALL the American people. What are you doing besides calling him names and laughing at him? Some of you were even hoping that COVID would be the cause of his demise. (Ah, the left. The party of “tolerance”.)
Please educate me again as to what Biden has accomplished for America in his 47 years in office, besides making the whole Biden family richer? By the way, where is Hunter?
I’ll take the “clown” any day versus a fork tongued, smooth talking hypocritical corrupt liar. I want a strong leader who isn’t afraid to kick some butt when needed. I don’t need a fatherly figure. I don’t need a liar. That’s what Hollywood, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, the Daily News and the New York Times are for.
Call me a chump, a racist, or part of the basket of deplorables. I do not care!
God bless Donald Trump – the best, most unappreciated President in U.S. history.”
© Joyce Clark, 2021
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Spot on! Well said, Joyce. I admire your willingness to put yourself out there during theses times of vengeance on conservatives.
Joyce,
As always, you make no bones about where you stand.
I may not agree with you but I support your right to say it.
Me, thank you. I appreciate it. Everyone has a right to speak freely.
Joyce I say Amen (So be it) and Amen! Well said and thank you for expressing your thoughts on the Constitution, our pledge and six inalienable rights that has lasted through the ages (from 1776) to make our great Nation {the U.S.A}. I also want to thank you for pointing out the differences in our current President and the President elect. In your short article you have been willing to do what the Media as a whole failed to do. I pray for America as I share your concerns.
Joyce, I completely agree and share your concerns. Many have pointed out how social media is suppressing conservative views as the media is doing the same.
Unfortunately nobody seems to have any idea how to fight back- we share blogs and emails about how bad it is but no solutions.
Do you have any?
Wow!! Joyce very few people come out and say what they really believe because anymore people are afraid. Yes so much hate for President Trump when the bible clearly states to respect the president. He ha done more for this country as you stated than anyone in a long time. He is the only one with enough guts to clean the swamp, go after China ,etc and I can’t imagine how our president could function with the liberals on his case every day. God Bless our President and pray for our country as we are under attack. It is time the people who love this country stand up for your freedoms and the constitution.
Joyce I completely disagree with your position and the list of accomplishments you attribute to the president. I do agree that you should always have the right to responsible share your views.
I do not agree with Twitter taking down page because after six years of have live with him racist twits I am now being deprived of the manifestation of his madness. Thanks for nothing Twitter and Facebook.
Tahj, as I have said previously I respect your right to express your point of view. I think we can agree to disagree without denigrating or verbally attacking one another.
Very well said Joyce. I am in total agreement.
Joyce, we have agreed and disagreed for years about a lot of things, but no matter what anyone’s political views, we all should be very concerned with the censorship that has been going on for the last 4 years. Big money news stations, as well as social media have taken over completely what anyone is allowed or disallowed to say or view. Our Constitution has been battered for a long time, and whether you like the personality of our President or not, he has the right, just like everyone else is supposed to, to state his views. We are in a major overtake by China and all the “big money” people in the U.S. that have financial gain associated with them. You are spot on that a political party is trying to manipulate and take over every other means of voicing an opinion in our America. I never thought I would see the day that so many people have blindly followed this philosophy in the name of politics. I understand even people that depend on U-tube have been disallowed to view their choices. This is completely scary, as well as unconstitutional. No one condones the violence that took place at the Capitol, but neither should anyone condoned the violence all summer long in some of the major cities that the Democratic party said the thugs had a right to react, steal, and burn, and even, Vice President Elect Harris set up a bail account to get them all out of jail for their utter criminal activities. We have such hypocrisy involved and I can’t believe the American people, no matter what the political affiliation, would allow this to continue.
Joyce. Where I am going to disagree with you is that the social media platforms are platforms that we (citizens) opt into. When opting in, we agree to the private company terms and conditions. Whether we like it, agree with it or not, we make the choice to opt in and live by their rules. If you, President Trump or I break their rules, they can remove us.
I am concerned by the overall censorship occurring in the country, but I think social media platforms have their right to do what they are currently doing (whether I agree with those platforms or not).
Frank if social media is not going to be a neutral platform they should not pretend to be a neutral platform. If they want to be able to censor conservatives then the laws need to be changed so they can be sued as any broadcaster. The big tech needs to be broken up. What is going on now in my opinion is ridiculous. They have sided with the Democratic party and refuse to allow anything through that could hurt the Democratic party such as the Hunter Biden story.
Councilwoman Clark,
It will be too late but soon Americans will find out what they have signed up for if that. There were plenty of Christmas light in my neighborhood this year more than any other year I remember. My kids stopped by and I told them to take mine down and take it with them. They said keep it for next year dad. I said I don’t see a reason to celebrate next year . I pretty much feel this is the same feeling my whole neighborhood has too. God Bless President Trump . He is a good man.
Payam R, you wrote:
“…God Bless President Trump . He is a good man.”
May I remind you, this “good man” bragged – on tape – that he “grabbed” women by their “genitalia” (not the exact word he used), and laughed that he could do it because he was “famous”!
Perhaps you forgot about that – or perhaps it just doesn’t matter to you.
I wonder, do you really believe God should bless a man of such low morals?
Luke 6:37 ESV / 1,483 helpful votes
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
That bible verse means nothing to me, Payam R.
By his own admission Donald Trump has described himself as a perverted, sexual predator who performs vile, reprehensible (and criminal) acts upon women!
Shame on him! And a shame be on you for defending his behavior by quoting the bible, and calling him “a good man”!
Joyce:
I have read your post several times and was not going to reply, but I feel compelled to do so.
I have learned not to get involved in debates over religion and/or politics, so this will not be a lengthy commentary.
However, there is one thing I want to address:
Am I to assume that you approved of the “rally” that was held on Wednesday, January 6th?
The rally that was attended by thousands of imbecilic, sideshow freaks in support of their (and your) illustrious leader? Arizona (and you) can be proud of the “Q Anon Shaman”, eh?
The rally that resulted in the murder of a 42 year old Capitol Police Officer, whose skull was crushed with a fire extinguisher!
If this is what you want for your country – and your party – then I hope you can live with yourself and your ideals.
There is so much more I could say about your post, but I will leave it at that.
Dinaslo, So much for civil discourse. Instead of using facts you choose to call us “imbecilic, sideshow freaks.” Your response is part of the larger problem of divisiveness in our country today.
And your response, Joyce, is exactly why I don’t get into political debates!
I did not feel the need to state any “facts” in my response to your post; and imho my “discourse” was extremely “civil”.
So, instead of answering my question, you responded by taking offense to my use of the words “imbecilic” and “sideshow freaks”.
Was that not a fairly accurate description of the thugs who stormed the Capitol Bldg. with the sole intention/purpose of causing mayhem & destruction and doing physical, bodily harm to Vice-president Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi?
There’s another question that you probably won’t answer.
Dinasio, I condemn the violence that occurred at the Capitol, whether the participants were from the right or left. Your refusal to argue with facts by saying you “don’t get into political debates” is no more than a vacuous smokescreen. You said and I quote, “The rally that was attended by thousands of imbecilic, sideshow freaks in support of their (and your) illustrious leader? Arizona (and you) can be proud of the “Q Anon Shaman”, eh?” It includes direct references to me. Your darned right I take offense. When are people on your side of the political spectrum going to remove the name calling and slurs from your speech?
As for the violence that has occurred at the Capitol it was criminal but so too was the BLM/Antifa violence that burned portions of cities such as Minneapolis and Portland. Where was your outrage then? Oh, but excuse me according to the media you cherish, it never happened or if it did, it was for a righteous cause. You can’t have it both ways. Peaceful political activism has always been a proud hallmark of our country. Political violence committed by any group has not.
Please, sprinkle a few facts. I’m sure my readers would love to read them.
It is not my intent to have a long back and forth written debate with you, Joyce, so this will be the last time I post anything on this subject.
I have absolutely no idea what kind of “facts” you expect me to post. I asked you a question that did not require me to state facts.
There is no comparison between the BLM rallies & protests that occurred this past summer, and the January 6th riotous, enraged crowd at the Capitol. Period!
For the record, violence and destructive behavior always outrages and angers me – no matter who is doing it, whatever the reason.
That mob in D.C. were acting violently, destroying property, breaking into private offices, beating law enforcement officers, and looking for Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi with intentions to do them serious bodily harm!
And for what? To do the bidding of a man who had convinced them he lost in the November election.
They were told to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Building – and “fight!”.
I have written far more than I intended to in this reply to you, but I want to conclude with a response to something you wrote; you asked:
“…When are people on your side of the political spectrum going to remove the name calling and slurs from your speech?
…”
Ha! That’s rich!
The man in the White House – on your side of the political spectrum – is the epitome of classless when it comes to name calling and slurs!
Never has a POTUS exhibited such low level language skills!
My use of the words “imbecilic” and “sideshow freaks” pale in comparison.
You may reply to me again if you are so inclined, but as I said at the beginning of this post, ”I am done!”
Dinaslo, I contend that the BLM violence and the Capitol violence are comparable. It’s sad that your utter hatred for President Trump so obviously clouds your judgement.
You are absolutely right and I think these are scarry times. All you need to do is talk to any legal immigrant from European countries or Cuba to see what is ahead if some of our elected officials don’t wake up and take a stand against the hate for Trump because he tried to expose crime syndicate in Washington that has divided this County and now the complete censorship of Americans.
Awomen Joyce !!
PJ Smithers, Cute!!
please keep it up
Ms. Clark,
Your argument that the First Amendment is under assault doesn’t make sense to me. As your quoted text of the amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law…”
Twitter isn’t Congress, it’s a private business. Are you suggesting that the Congress should pass a law that requires Twitter to host speech that it doesn’t want on its platform?
President Trump has many other avenues to express his thoughts officially and unofficially and he has done so. In fact, only three Presidents in our country’s history have even had access to the service.
I understand that Twitter was very convenient for President Trump, but that’s not exactly a good argument for curtailing Twitter’s freedom to run its business as it chooses.
Regards,
Jason
Jason, In y opinion there are some laws that need to be passed for Big Tech including Twitter. Number one is the Big Tech needs to be broken up as they have become a Monopoly; and number two as a private enterprise Congress should no longer allow Big Tech to be immune from lawsuits. Big Tech has become way to powerful and discriminatory to be protected and one sided.
Hello David,
Thank you for your reply.
May I ask who specifically you are referencing when you say Big Tech? If new laws are to have any impact, they would need to be quite specific and the details of the laws will likely determine the constitutionality.
Regards,
Jason
Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft. I also think Twitter, Snapchat, You Tube and a few others need to be looked at. It will be interesting to see if there was communication between these various entities and in light of recent political events if any anti-trust laws were breached if not directly then perhaps indirectly.