Putting West Plains, MO on the map.

A few years ago, while I was on my college visit to Washburn, my mom and I stopped by the capital building since we were in town. I remember seeing a sign that with Topeka's Word of the Day - "Deference: yielding to the judgment or opinion of another. Courteous submission out of respect for the wishes of others." It struck me enough at the time to take a picture.

It seems like a silly thing to make a sign for - silly that we need to be reminded to respect each other. But apparently a few folks in Missouri need that sign plastered on their foreheads.

Recently, an anonymous citizen put up a billboard depicting presidential candidate Barack Obama in a turban and with the middle name "Hussein." The billboard also claims that electing Obama will "equal" more abortions, same sex marriages, taxes, and gun regulations.

Well obviously, Mr. Anonymous, taxes and gun regulations may increase due to any candidate getting into office, but I fail to see the connection between electing a candidate and guaranteeing an increase in the number of abortions or same sex marriages as a result. If a person chooses to get an abortion or to get married, in general, it's not because the president told them to. That's like saying if you move to Kansas you will be swept away to Oz by a massive tornado.

Might an elected official pass laws to support these two scenarios? Possibly. But jumping to such conclusions and going as far as trying to influence voters with them, is crossing the line.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about political activism and am a staunch supporter of freedom of speech, but I am thoroughly sick of how offensive and negative so much of the political outreach is today.

I wonder what would happen if a campaign were run solely on the positive aspects of a candidate. Would it be refreshing to voters to see only positive ads?

So friends, the moral to the story... We should respect our RIGHT to freedom of speech. That means that not only should we respect every American citizen's right to say whateva the heck they want, but we should also respect the right itself and honor it with restraint. As citizens, we should take this right seriously and actually think before we speak and even (gasp) consider how what we say will affect others.

Or, let's at least be a little more creative in attacking a candidate.


http://media.www.washburnreview.org/media/storage/paper1140/news/2008/10/13/Opinion/Obama.Sign.Offensive.Walks.The.Line.Of.Free.Speech-3484218.shtml?reffeature=recentlycommentedstoriestab