A fellow named Kris Kristofferson, who died in 2024, wrote the song “Me and Bobby McGee” which was performed by the late Janis Joplin, decades ago. Within those lyrics is a phrase “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.”
That song along with its lyrics have been analyzed, reanalyzed and analyzed again to determine what special, hidden meaning might be hiding therein since it was released in 1970. For those readers too young to remember, the 1970’s represented the tail end of the hippie generation and associated peace movement.
After 55-years of deciphering, discussion, and speculation, it was determined – and confirmed before his death – Kristofferson claimed that those words were merely words. There was nothing deep and spiritual therein.
But another song, The National Anthem, contains the words, “Land of the free…” referring to the United States of America. In this stately song, also known as The Star Spangled Banner, is the official song of our nation.
It is the word “free” that implies since America’s divorce from Great Britain in the 1770’s, we Americans have the ability to do and say anything we want freely. This struggle to break free from England was every bit as monumental as new spiritual sects formed to meet the wants of those dissatisfied parishioners in the religious world.
Unhappy with King George III, people in the New World here still ruled with iron fisted rules and laws bordering on tortuous. Without rehashing the Revolutionary War, suffice it to say, The United States of America was soon born and continues to this day based upon a brilliant document: The United States Bill of Rights.
This Bill of Rights, sewn out of whole cloth, lain out ten amendments known as The Bill of Rights, on which is based our current Constitution, now consisting of 27 Amendments. It is the oldest written national constitution still in use, which speaks volumes for the Founding Fathers who crafted this remarkable guide back in the late 1780’s.
The First Amendment is chock full o’ so-called freedoms: speech, religion, press, assembly, are all specifically mentioned therein. And for nearly 250-years, this document has served America well for helping keep our sleazy politicians at bay. But things, as of late, have changed dramatically.
The Constitution is not – I repeat, NOT – a list of rights that are given to you by anyone except God. Those rights were well thought out to remind residents of the newly-forming United States. No one has the authority to nullify those rights, either.
Yet, not a day seems to pass without someone who is self-aggrieved complains about how they are – or feel as though they are – being directly affected by either a real or imagined slight. And to that end, the entire population must become involved. Like it or not.
Take, for example an apparent epidemic of sex changes among school-aged children. Youngsters are being instructed to examine their inner selves to ensure they were “born into their correct bodies.”
Little girls, once known as ‘tom boys,’ as well as young lads who aren’t necessarily over-masculine are being encouraged to acquire sex change operations to rectify their physical and mental ‘deficiencies.’ Of course, those aren’t necessarily deficiencies, rather merely over-educated school advisors misdiagnosing the growing, ever-changing stages of life.
Keeping in mind I am not a doctor, nor pretend to be one. But I grew up in an urban environment playing with, and attending school, with classmates plus neighbors who exhibited unusual tendencies in their youth, but wound up successfully seamlessly melding into society, without surgery.
Adding to this psychotic tornado, a bit older portion of our society who are integrating themselves into places once considered sacred ground. All this blossomed from freedom found in The First Amendment.
Growing up in the 1960’s and ‘70’s, nearly every conversation, magazine article, television program, and news item was seasoned with at least a mention of something called “women’s rights.” You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone aboard the equal rights/civil rights/women’s rights movements.
Beating the drum to the song of women being able to do anything men can do was a mantra in the “war of the sexes.” Society politely nodded and accepted this slogan as sacred words unable to be disputed.
Sloganeering was rampant from the likes of actresses, female athletes, and reporters, all of whom found a way to integrate stories with messages of how women could only enhance the value of any job, bar none.
It wasn’t unusual to find women working as teachers, cashiers, nurses, desk clerks, secretaries, even school bus drivers. But, soon, we found ourselves with women pilots, lawyers, truck drivers, doctors, police officers, firefighters, corporate executives, and legislators. This change was monumental and positive.
But all is not without problems. Somehow, women became troublesome to the solution and appeared to be greedy in the eyes of anointed rabble rousers. Proving they were able and willing to do the jobs in this newly created arena, women have been, as of late, attacked for some unknown reason.
Men who “identify” as women are now overly anxious to ‘cross over’ to pretend to be women. Of course, they are not women, and short of an industrial mishap or a gonadectomy they have no more transformed into a member of the female species than they suddenly transformed into a sleeper sofa.
These men discovered women and men are different; that in and of itself is not a secret. Men are usually larger, more muscular, and faster than women, all of which contributes to creating an unfair imbalance in favor of men. In other words, freedom to be whatever one wanted to be.
Unfortunately, there are seemingly countless women politicians, reporters, teachers, and pundits that are actually encouraging men to blur the line between males and females. And after years of dedicated and grueling training, women are now finding themselves no longer able to viably compete. But why?
It seems as though all that aforementioned talk about women’s rights wound up being nothing except tripe. Women are currently crying “foul” because they are angry with the newly-identified “men” who are competing against biological women, and winning.
To make things even more confusing, the affected women competitors have misplaced their ire toward the wrong culprit. The powers-that-be in sports have proven to be the guilty parties by turning a blind eye to this miscarriage of fairness.
The men have been granted freedom to compete as any gender they wish without questions or consequences.
Politicians, judges, parents, teachers, school principles, even other students, are invoking the word “freedom” to ensure this bastardization of language is permanently scarred for any so-desired future “conversations” the opposition will impose.
Remember that ‘freedom’ stuff with which we began? Turns out it’s not free for everyone – only for a select few. But why?
With lines blurred between men and women, good and evil, as well as truth and falsehood, accuracy – facts – nothing can be discerned to be real or valid.
Suddenly, even gravity is subject to speculation.
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| Not Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson |
A recent vice-presidential candidate, Governor Tim Walz implied men were capable of having babies; the latest Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was unable to define “a woman,” under oath; while former President William Jefferson Clinton had trouble defining what the “meaning of the word ‘is,’ is.” None of that is necessarily high IQ stuff.
As you can see, the bottom line is not necessarily about the truth. Today, the bottom line is the ability, or permission, to question facts presented as the truth. Which leads us to freedom. And that freedom is quickly vanishing.
Remember, “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.”
