Tag: censorship

Posted in Communication

Patriotic Treason

Posted on by simplebender

True Patriots Can Not be Silenced…No Silence, No Fear

In this 250th-anniversary year, the FCC, through its “Pledge America Campaign,” is encouraging broadcasters to air more “patriotic, pro-America,” “positive,” “uplifting” non-critical programming celebrating our national story. On its face, it sounds harmless, even unifying. No one says criticism is forbidden in this campaign. Still, when a regulatory agency that controls broadcast licenses asks for “pro-American” and “uplifting” messaging, the subtext seems clear—celebrate, don’t scrutinize. But it raises an uncomfortable question: isn’t one of America’s greatest strengths the freedom to question our myths, challenge our institutions, and resist messaging that feels more like image management than truth-telling?

A healthy nation should not fear scrutiny; it should welcome it. We do not grow weaker by examining our history from multiple angles. We grow wiser. We stand taller when we are willing to look not only at the victors’ triumphs, but also at the suffering of the defeated, the excluded, and the conveniently forgotten.

Patriotism that cannot tolerate criticism is not confidence; it is insecurity dressed up as ceremony.

We should be honest about what troubles many Americans today. When institutions redact, conceal, and protect the powerful while exposing the vulnerable, we should call it what it is: a cover-up. When the history of slavery is sanitized, minimized, or rewritten, that is not a nation maturing—it is a nation lying to itself. And when a country suppresses the weak and demeans others for gain, it is not ascending. It is declining.

When citizens see voting access narrowed in some places, districts drawn to protect power rather than represent people, and public narratives shaped to flatter rather than inform, they do not feel united. They feel managed—manipulated. They begin to doubt the message’s legitimacy, no matter how many flags are wrapped around it.

Still, this is not a voice against patriotism. It is a voice for a broader form of it.

We should be proud that many people in this country still protest peacefully, speak openly, and challenge policies they believe are unjust. That tradition is not a flaw in America; it is one of the few things that has consistently made America worth admiring. Our best moments have not come from silence or obedience. They have come when ordinary people insisted that the country live up to its own promises and that power be held legally accountable.

That is not treason. That is citizenship. That is patriotism.

Treason is not dissent. Treason is the quiet surrender of conscience—the nodding along to cover-ups, cruelty, and convenient historical rewriting because it feels safer or easier. Patriotism is not taking your hat off on cue, reciting the Pledge by rote, or consuming approved “pro-American” programming and songs. Patriotism is telling the truth about who we are and who we have been. Real patriotism is hard. It asks us to love the country enough to tell it the truth.

And truth includes this: we have made mistakes, some of them grave. We are not diminished by admitting it. We are diminished by pretending otherwise. A nation grows stronger when it knows its history fully, speaks honestly about its failures, and chooses, again and again, to do better. We become stronger still when we can say, without fear or excuse, that we’ve been wrong, but we’ll be better.         NeverFearTheDream   simplebender.com

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Federal Communications Commission. “Chairman Carr Announces Pledge America Campaign.” Federal Communications Commission, 20 Feb. 2026, docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-418890A1.pdf

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NeverFearTheDream simplebender.com Stand For Truth

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A form of this article was first published on 3/10/26 in the Bend Bulletin

Posted in Favoites

Rabbits’ Revenge: A Fable of Hidden Strength

Posted on by simplebender
Protesting 'Rabbits' Ain't No Fun When the Rabbit's Got the Gun

King Wannabe stood before the crowd of people, his back hunched, too feeble to be erect, his greying, bushy eyebrows raised, his face twisted in contempt. The people would not chant his name nor bow to his image. “Rabbits,” he scoffed. “Nothing but rabbits. They eat, they breed, they exist for my pleasure. Especially the young ones—for my pleasure. Everyone must love Wannabe, everyone, especially these rabbits.” His entourage knelt in obedience, fearful of his rage.

One brave advisor dared to whisper, “But sir, no one is loved by everyone, and they are more than rabbits. They are people, with minds, with hopes and dreams.” In a buffoonish manner, Wannabe waved the thought aside, clutching a handful of pamphlets. “Look at these. Lies! All lies! Their words are filth. Take their paper and their pens. Silence them, cancel their culture.” He signed an Order, and the dutiful minions obeyed, seizing what they could.

Yet the words did not stop. Thought traveled without ink. Discontent spread without parchment. And so Wannabe tightened his grip. In a tyrannical rage, he yelled, “We will control the news. We will make them pay to speak. We will force them to listen. We will tell them what books to read. We will be their favorite, the one they love; they will love Wannabe.” Again, with trepidation, the advisor leaned close: “But sir, even without paper, they have found their voices. They still have minds. And even rabbits, when cornered, will bite. Not today, perhaps—but one day the rabbits will bite. Remember this if you remember nothing at all. And heed the hunter’s satire.” The Wannabe dismissed him with a bitter laugh and a sneer. “Nonsense. They are only rabbits. They are for my pleasure; their only care is to eat and breed.” He arrogantly sneered. “And as to the satirical, I hate comics: ‘ain’t no fun when the rabbit’s got the gun’ is just silly. It’s for the weak and timid; not for Wannabe because Wannabe controls all and fears nothing.” He laughed, but his laugh was uneasy, and the silence from his minions was unmistakable and deafening.

Seasons passed. The whisper and wisdom of the sage advisor lingered. The people—mocked as useless, underestimated lagomorphs—grew weary of abuse and felt more cornered yet bolder. The self-serving advisors, sensing doom, scurried away with whatever spoils they could steal. At last, Wannabe stood alone, his armies and decrees powerless against a multitude no longer afraid, but resolute and united.

And from the crowd, like sparks catching fire, came the clamorous chants:

“Today the rabbits bite.”
“Ain’t no fun when the rabbit’s got the gun.”

Protesting against authoritarianism

The chants rolled through the streets, half warning, half laughter, but all serious. It was no threat of violence, but a proverb of irony. These people, these ‘rabbits’, had never needed literal guns because they had found something much more lethal—strength in their numbers, in their unified ideas, in their memory, dreams, and words, and now in their collective refusal to bow. The chant was their laughter, their truth, their declaration that the world had turned and change was in the offing. And the wise sage smiled a subtle, small, sly smile, always knowing and anticipating the power of their unity.

Civil society thrives only when none are treated as beasts, but as human beings with voices, hopes, and dreams. Wise leaders understand that thought is stronger than chains and the pen is stronger than the sword. The silencing of truth and thought control is always temporary; revolt begins the moment words are stifled, and action follows when endurance breaks.

If you have a gun—put it down, and put it away, we rabbits don’t need them.

Instead, pick up your pen and write your thoughts and dreams. Raise your voice and speak your mind. Open your ears and listen to others. Kings, Emperors, and wannabes are mortal. But thoughts endure. Words endure. And yours are essential. #NeverFearTheDream #Ain’tNoFun #RabbitsBite

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NeverFearTheDream simplebender.com Stand For Truth

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Posted in Communication

Defend the Freedom to Read

Posted on by simplebender

Freedom to Read is an inalienable right. A right inherent and integral to the freedom of the press. Freedom to read allows all citizens access to the marketplace of ideas. The freedom of expression and the press falls mute when freedom to receive the material is repressed.

This right is under attack by those who want to control what is available for us to read. They endeavor to protect their comfort and their right to choose while sacrificing everyone else’s. Everyone’s liberty to choose, to seek knowledge and information, as well as the investigation of ideas should be respected. Those who believe contrary ideas should be banned are dangerous people. They are those who cannot deal with controversy and the whole truth. Information is power. Writings are torches in the darkness.

Those who choose to ban and censor books and print are destined for disappointment. You cannot ban and censor ideas forever. Ideas have a fire unto themselves which is uncontrollable and inextinguishable. They will emerge. They will grow. The victors write history, not the vanquished. The story of the conquered eventually is told and the victors held accountable when the whole truth is known. Those who choose to try to control, ban, and censor today should be prepared for the inevitable reversal of fate. This is a sad vicious cycle which should never have started. But it is a cycle which we can resist and one which must be stopped. It is contradictory to profess support of Freedom of the Press and simultaneously restrict and ban publications.

Stand up; defend and exercise your freedom to read, your freedom to write, your freedom to express individual thoughts and ideas. Encourage open publication and distribution without fear of the censor’s blade. Only when citizens explore the full range of human thought and emotion, weighing all perspectives in the balance, can we truly govern ourselves and claim our democratic birthright. Let’s openly, respectfully, grapple with challenging ideas and controversial subject matter. Push yourself to be uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. Then draw your own conclusions. Conclusions based on broad thoughts, not narrow ones. Information wants to be free. It cannot forever be restrained or repressed. Be brave, be willing to defend expression of ideas, regardless of how much you disagree with them. Resist those in power who want to try to extinguish this flame by censorship and banning. Support the authors who persist. Those who write the truth to, and in spite, of power. Those who present ideas and options to the masses, and let them think it all through. Read for pleasure, adventure, insight, and intrigue, but always fiercely defend the Freedom to Read. #NeverFearTheDream

If you find this article interesting or maybe challenging, please see some more of my musing at simplebender.medium.com. Please consider following me and never miss an article…Stay well