Freedom of Speech

With much power comes much responsibility. I say this a lot - though I am pretty sure I stole that line from a movie - maybe Spiderman.

Justin posted an article today about Newsweek. I took the time to read the story and it just really ticked me off. First, the authors decided to publish a story talking about how America was falling apart in a Japanese version of the magazine. They did not run the story stateside. Freedom of speech entitles us to criticize the things we don't like. Talk radio is full of criticisms and coming up with solutions - but it at least gives those in power, and those in grass roots movements an opportunity to address concerns. To talk behind someone's back and not give them an opportunity to defend themselves - well, it is just cowardly.

The part of the story that really steamed me was the line that people outside of America don't want the American way of life. Now let me say that there are some aspects of our country's moral and political make-up that I don't agree with - but there is no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater - I try to improve the things I can and adapt to the rest.

I work in a metropolitan hospital. In the last week I have seen immigrants from the following countries: Somalia, Bosnia, Scotland, Cuba, Columbia, Mexico, Ukraine, England, India, Japan and Romania. These folks aren't stupid - nor are they cowards. Most of them came with just a suitcase ( imagine for just a moment reducing all your possessions to a suitcase). They came to a country that speaks predominantly English - not too many folks understand that question about where is the bathroom when asked in Bosnian. Apparently the author didn't talk to any of these folks, because in my conversations with them - they are pretty freaking glad to be here. Some of the folks we see risked the desert in Texas or New Mexico to cross over, still others hop a boat and trek the 90 miles by ocean from Cuba (no judgment here, just the fact that it is a pretty gutsy thing to do for someone who doesn't want "the American Way of Life"). I wonder if this author at Newsweek has been to the Mexican border lately - we can't keep people from crossing the border illegally - maybe he has been under a rock for the past 15 years.

I guess the upshot of this is that I believe if you see something that need fixing - try to fix it, complaining doesn't really yield results. Expressing your negative opinions to others without confronting the party involved is gossiping - and it is cowardly. We can't fix everyone, but it is our responsibility to try to make the world we impact a better place. Here is one 5th generation American that is glad to have those of you who were brave enough to dream of a new future here in the States. Welcome home.

Freedom of Speech Part Two

I don't pretend for a minute to think Tom Cruise would care what I think, but yesterday I saw an article where he openly criticized Brooke Shields for using medication to treat post partum depression. Perhaps the article is fabricated, but just in case it is true, I have some things to say:

Problem 1: He is a Scientologist and entitled to his beliefs, but he is not a physician, has not been trained that i can see in either Eastern or Western medicine, he is an actor - a pretender by trade.

Problem 2: He has never been pregnant, neither have his wives or live-in girlfriends, so how much does ol' Tom really know about pregnancy or the terror of post partum depression first hand?

Problem 3: Did he not watch the news? Hasn't he seen the stories of women who killed their children when the depression moved to psychosis? I cannot understand why compassion would not dictate for us to do whatever we possibly can, short of murder - to protect that mom, her kids and her husband from teh drama that ensues when depression goes untreated.

Problem 4: This is not his wife or his baby - sorry, also not any of his business.

Problem 5: He perpetuates the myth that depression is a weakness of character and not a physical malady. Thanks for moving medicine back 10 years with your bold public statement you turkey. It is so difficult to get people to seek treatment because of the social stigma ALREADY - this kind of press doesn't help.

Problem 6: What Brooke Shields did was very brave - to share that kind of pain in the hope that it will help someone else is a great thing. She deserves support - not for some one who professes to care about her to openly criticize her.