Free Speech is Clearly Anything But

There are plenty of things said in this world that I don't agree with. The disgusting vitriol spouted by the Reverend Fred Phelps and his psychotic followers are a prime example of speech I find inflammatory and plain disturbing. However, as an American that cares about civil liberties, I will defend his right to say whatever the hell he wants to say, no matter how much I disagree with what comes out of that jerk's mouth. It is the constitutional right of all Americans to utilize their freedom of speech. Obviously the government doesn't agree when it comes to the case of Brandon J. Raub.

This young man is a decorated former Marine who served his country selflessly in the Middle East. He recently made some anti-government statements on Facebook. This is something that's done every day on all forms of social media. Instead of just ignoring the statements, the FBI and Secret Service strong-armed the Chesterfield County Police to detain Brandon on a TDO (temporary detention order) in the local psychiatric ward. This worries me. What is the government doing monitoring our Facebook pages? If they were to detain EVERYONE that says the things Brandon said, we'd all be locked up. Why is it ok for others, but not for him?

I usually try to stay out of political debates. I have my own personal opinions, but I was raised to believe there's a quartet of things you NEVER discuss: money, religion, sex, and politics. In the case of Brandon Raub, what is happening to him is wrong. This country brags about the many freedoms we enjoy as citizens as a means of proving how much better we are than other countries. When we start abusing the law as a means of controlling the populace and frightening them into complacency, then that makes us no better than those Communist nations we were so afraid of during the Cold War.