So Much for That Whole First Amendment Thingy...

Bill of Rights

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

We have that in the United States, right? Wrong.

Today I was planning to natter on about www.nowthatsfuckedup.com. Basically it was a site where people (mostly military from the looks of it, if memory serves) would upload pictures & stories - female soldiers baring their breasts, service people in various stages of undress engaging in various sexual and pseudo-sexual acts, "spoils of war" type photos of service people posing with enemy corpses, "Dear Jane, I fucked your boyfriend," letters and similar puerile drivel.

When I navigated to that page this morning, instead of the juvenile locker room blather I was expecting, I was instead met with the official seal of Florida's Polk County Sheriff and the following rather imposing message:

"Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and the State Attorney’s Office of the 10th Judicial Circuit have concluded an investigation documenting violations of Florida laws pertaining to obscenity.

The investigation resulted in the prosecution of Christopher Wilson, the former web master of this website. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office now maintains this URL to prevent further transmission of obscene material.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd encourages webmasters to review Chapter 847 of the Florida State Statutes. Sheriff Judd will continue to vigorously enforce all laws governing obscenity and investigate any person who transmits this material in Polk County.

Citizens are encouraged to report violations to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at www.polksheriff.org"

Not that I'm terribly interested in pictures of dead Iraquis or service people boinking one another; I couldn't care less. I was planning to maunder on about how there's a market for just about anything. However, I object to some conservative pinhead Barney Fife wannabe making the decision for me about what constitutes obscenity. Frankly, I find TV evangelists who want me to send them pictures of dead presidents so they can pray for my heathenous soul & buy a new jet to be far more obscene than a few pictures of bare boobs, butts & bollocks.

Seriously, has the Sheriff ever surfed the Internet? You can find information, images and stories about anything imaginable - and plenty you've never even come close to thinking about. The stuff that was on the nowthatsfuckedup.com site was tame and pales in comparison to much of what's out there. I have to wonder who Mr. Wilson pissed off to get on the Sheriff's radar.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that the Bill of Rights doesn't really apply to ordinary mokes like you and me anymore. Every day those rights are eroded a little more and what do we do about it? We just bend over and take it right up the ass because if we speak up for ourselves we're labeled unpatriotic, godless heathens and will be put on the naughty list for surveillance, investigation and posible incarceration. Is it just me or does our current political regime smack of Nazism?

Now THAT'S Fucked Up. Pass the lube, please.