You Have the Right To Be a Dumb Ass

All of this hoopla this past week in Charlottesville, VA has got me thinking.

Basically it all started with this favorite radio/podcast host I have. This gentleman and his wife were driving up in Maine when a pickup truck drove past them with Confederate flags flying from the rear of their truck. This host, and his wife were offended by the flying of the Confederate flags, and pulled into a store parking lot to confront the folks in the truck. The radio/podcast host and his wife told the couple in the truck that they were offended by their flying of the Confederate flag which they saw as being racist in nature. They were summarily flipped off by the couple in the truck, and a short verbal confrontation occurred.

As I listened to this tale, I was thinking to myself "Well the Confederate flag is a symbol, and symbols mean different things to different people. Their anger may be justified, but maybe my radio host and his wife were a little out of line."

But then I thought some more, "What if they were flying a Nazi flag instead of a Confederate flag from the back of their pickup truck?" This flag has definite racial meanings to it. Should I, or anyone else confront them to say that they are offended? Should there be a LAW that states that the Nazi flag not be flown by anyone in public?

This censorship of offensive material is a very slippery slope. The First Amendment to the Constitution states that no laws shall be passed to restrict the right of free speech of American citizens. Citizens also have a right to disagree with what others say. There is a right to express yourself, whether it be a Nazi Flag, Confederate Flag, or whether you have a Christmas tree. The Constitution does not give you the right to bash, pummel, or kill anyone who you disagree with, or who you feel offended by.

If you give the government, or anyone the power to censor Nazi Flags, Confederate Flags, statues of Robert E. Lee, etc. you are opening a Pandora's box. This is opening a door to anything, and everything being censored that someone, (or the government, who the Constitution is really protecting us from) finds offensive.

We all need to grow a thicker skin. Dumb asses fly Confederate flags in Maine, or wear Nazi gear for one reason; to piss people off. These dumb asses get off on doing that. Don't play into their game and add more anger which they feed off of. The best way to handle dumb asses is simply to ignore them

Allow dumb asses to be dumb asses as long as they are not violent dumb asses. The Constitution allows everyone who wants to be a dumb ass to be one.

Things That Irk Me

I am normally an up beat positive type of a guy. I do my best to keep a positive attitude even under the most stressful situations, but there are certain things that people do that will never fail to irk me. Some people call these things “pet peeves”, but I prefer to call them “things that irk me” (I just think ‘irk' is a great, under used word). So here it is Mike’s official list of “Things That Irk Me”.

1) Push handles on pull doors

2) People who just have to pull out in front of you, when there are no cars behind you, then make a left hand turn 100 ft. down the road.

3) Loud mouths

4) Greedy people

5) Hooray for me, and f#&k you, type of people

6) Drivers waiting to make a left hand turn in front of you that won’t move into the center of the intersection.

7) Power driven policemen who forget that they are being paid to serve and protect.

8) Warm beer

9) Cigarette smokers who complain when I light up a cigar.

10)People who love to tease and, dish out verbal abuse, but get indignant, and offended when you do the same to them.

11)People talking on cell phones when they are paying for their groceries.

12)People sending text messages on cell phones while they are (supposedly) driving.

13)Tailgaters

14)Wet cigars

15)Guys who can’t lift the toilet seat to piss

16)People who steal your lunch at work

17)Nosy, gossiping people

18)A bed that smells like “dog”

19)Slow golfers

20)Shoppers that block the whole aisle with their shopping carts

21)Cars that won’t start

22)Anything that won’t work, when I want it to

23)Flat tires

24)Beautiful women, that know that they are beautiful

25)Spam

26)Telemarketers calling at suppertime

27)Commercials that insult my manhood and, intelligence

28)Dead cell phone batteries

29)Racists

30)Varmints, flies, and cockroaches

31)Neighborhood cats in heat

32)Potholes

33)Not being able to find my car keys at 3:45 AM, because they weren’t hung up.

34)Pull handles on push doors

Wow, I never realized there are so many things that irk me! What was that I was saying before about being positive and up beat? Forget that!