Our First Amendment

Yes, we can say what we want to,

voices in the wind or voices sung or

voices from on high – not always the truth,

but it doesn’t matter, does it?

Such freedom gives new meaning

to what freedom is,

that I may call you this or that,

and have no price to pay.

This sounds good to libertarians

who wish to swim in a sea of free thought

and action that is like sugar on the ice cream

of political will, like a wind that blows

detritus and manna equally in its blasts,

no difference, no measure of what some may call truth.

And yet there is the flaw, the shattered shard

that Jefferson had dreams of, the dangers

of management, sending us off to Gulags

if we dare to speak ill and call a spade a spade.

Do we forget that “freedom of the press” does not mean

only that we can scream ad hominems across the fence

at neighbors we find offensive and ugly

without fear of soldiers spearing us on their bayonets?

It means that the “press” (you know, the media)

can challenge the powers that be, that they

can ferret out the truth with a bit of hard work

and let us in on the plans that may change our lives

in ways we may not like.

And do they do that?

No.

Sadly we go on

in a vortex of lies and acquiesences

because we find entertainment

more valuable

than truth.

We may be cooked in our own broth

and no one will be around who cares.