Tom DeWeese: "Globally-Acceptable Truth" and the Crime of Thinking

"In other examples, property owners seeking to ask questions at city council meetings about a new regulation that may affect their land are denied the microphone – sometimes even bodily removed from meetings by armed guards.

"A pickup truck in Shreveport, Louisiana, is pulled over by a cop. When asked why, the cop simply points to the bumper sticker on the back of the truck that says 'Member of the NRA.'

"And then there is the beauty queen, Miss California, USA, who was asked about her views on gay marriage – by the openly gay blogger and activist Perez Hilton. Her answer – very honest and very middle of the road.

"She said, 'Well, I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. You know what, in my country, in my family, I do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offence to anybody out there. But that's how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman.'

"For that answer she was attacked in headlines across the nation, calling her a bigot, a dumb bitch, and sarcastically and mockingly calling her 'biblically correct.'

"And then, just last week, at a town hall meeting to discuss the health care plan with his congressman, a black man, Kenneth Gladney was beaten by union goons and sent to the hospital for disagreeing with the Obama plan.

"Why? Why the hatred? Why the venom? Why the intolerance to what used to be called a 'personal opinion' or political debate?

"The fact is we are witnessing an all-out drive to impose thought control that seeks to ban the ability – the right- to think or speak for one's self. Thinking is becoming a crime.

"Today, there is one acceptable idea – government is the answer. Stray from that premise – even a little, as did Miss California, -- and there will be no mercy for you. Your life will be destroyed."