Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Coleslaw

I'm a pretty big fan of free speech. It is precisely that little hunk of constitutional wisdom that gives me the opportunity to spout off about this and that. I have been sharing my opinions on matters big and small, but mostly small, on this virtual spot for several years now, and at no point has my door been kicked and by jackbooted thugs looking to haul me away to a re-education center on a distant archipelago. That doesn't mean that I haven't stirred up some strong feelings from those who don't exactly see eye-to-eye with me. Generally the comments I receive are supportive and when I manage to strike a nerve with a reader out there in the ether, I hear about it in one form or another. Of course I have no way to know how much of what I have written over the past few years has been dutifully transcribed or preserved on some government hard drive with the hopes of eventually catching me going just a little too far.
I'm guessing Nakoula Basseley Nakoula may have had a sense that he was being watched. The auteur behind the Youtube sensation, "Innocence of Muslims" might have had his bail money ready for the moment that federal officials came knocking, especially given the response his thirteen minute film created. This is not because the burning of American flags in the Middle East is an uncommon sight, but it usually comes as a reaction to some sort of international incident or policy shift. This guy managed to stir things up across the globe by posting his poorly made and inflammatory video that mocked the Prophet Mohammad next to "Charlie Bit My Finger." No word as yet what sort of protective custody Charlie is undergoing.
Nakoula was locked up in a Los Angeles jail because of "possible parole violations." If inciting global unrest is a parole violation, then lock him up and throw away the key. If they're keeping him behind bars because they figure he will be safer there, then they seem to be on the right track again. And just who is this "they" I keep mentioning? Maybe I should cut this short before I get myself in trouble. So just to throw them off, here's my recipe for coleslaw.

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