SHUT UP--- BUT--- KEEP TALKING
I often wonder why I cannot remove the battery from my thinking cap and not
say a word while my country goes to hell in a hand basket. I question why I
can’t stop the grinder’s stone that grinds at my heart and wakes me in the
middle of the night to say “you can’t keep silent about this.” I speculate why
I did not acquire the talent of one who speaks with such an eloquent tongue
that makes opposition nearly impossible. I don’t know how to answer many
of these questions, but there are some things I----- do know.
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But ---- as to the past ---- I
have read over a thousand documented testimonials concerning the benefits of
medical marijuana, ---- but I have not found one positive testimonial
concerning the benefits of tobacco.
I taught in a high
school where there was a designated area for male students to smoke cigarettes.
I sat in the teacher’s lounge and heard teachers condemn long-haired hippies
for smoking weed while they had a thick fog of tobacco smoke circling above
their heads. I said then---- as---- I
say now---- there was something wrong with that picture.
I know there are
health problems related to smoking tobacco, and I have no difficulty believing
sincere parents who have witnessed the benefits of medical marijuana for a
child with epilepsy.
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----But--- as to the present ----- I have heard Americans call President
Obama all kinds of unscrupulous names. I have watched individuals look facts
directly in the face and deny them ----- such as ---- the number of unemployed
Americans has decreased ----- the American dollar is strong on the world’s
market ----- the value of the American home has increased ---- the price of a
gallon of gasoline has decreased. ---- But---- I am unable to identify the
problem because I know that Americans are better off today than they were eight
years ago.
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I do not understand why some individuals believe that enforcement of
Christian principals is not the same as forced Islamic doctrines. But, deep
down, I know the policy is the same.
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I am horrified when an esteemed member of the community declares that
all individuals of a different sexual orientation should be placed on an island
and shot. ---- But ---- he is welcomed in the “amen” corner of the local
church. ----- I know----- that both the church and the individuals are wrong in
this assumption.
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I find it impossible to remain silent when the Chicago Police Union,
other adult men and women, and one major news outlet attempts to justify a
policeman shooting a teenager sixteen times or when a policeman shoots and
kills a twelve-year-old kid playing with a toy gun. There can be no
justification for a cold-blooded murder. ----I know---- there are many ways to
handle civil disobedience without the use of deadly force.
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But I’m certain of one thing ---- there should never be a power in
heaven or on earth strong enough to silence a tongue from speaking the truth.