Free Speech, Expensive Lies

 

I honestly never, in this country, thought I would say this, but I am so damn sick of hearing about free speech. Especially in defense of the indefensible. And I don't mean just mean legally, although that is what has become the issue, but morally as well. 

But then morals seem to have gone the way of the dinosaurs, extinct. Or maybe the way of bigfoot, just really, really good at hiding.

Here's the thing, free speech is a right. And a privilege. It is not an excuse. It was never meant to be a green light to deliberately harm others. You cannot just say anything, any time and any place. Ask E. Jean Carroll.

There is a line, and you cannot cross it. If you do, there are consequences (I refer you, again, to E. Jean Carroll). But unfortunately, so many lies have been told, and so publicly, with consequences that either never come, or are so slow in coming that they are after the intended harm has successfully been done, that the flood gates have opened and the lies are flowing.

But, it seems, we are all about to learn a valuable lesson about what is and isn't free speech. Or bear witness to those who use free speech as a pretext to harming others (or harming all of us) learning what we already know.

'Cause it turns out all speech is not free. Some can end up being rather costly.

 

And the ability, both morally and legally, to discern between what is and isn't free speech can really be described in one word: maturity.

Since, apparently, a great number of our politicians never achieved that skill, I guess we need to lay it out for them. To avoid jeopardy, legal and/or financial, I thought I'd give the members of a certain political party cult, a quick tutorial. A list of a few infractions they haven't tried but, as they continue to push the confines of the absurd, could well be contemplating:

~ You cannot hide in a congressional bathroom stall, jump out and yell "boo," as people unzip.

~ You cannot walk into a busy restaurant and yell "cockroach." 

~ You cannot tell a flight attendant that you're thinking of hijacking the plane.

~ You cannot chop down your neighbor's tree and tell him that George Washington did it.

~ You cannot tell someone with allergies that there are no peanuts in that cake.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cake

~ You cannot walk into a colleague's office with a gun and say you're the police requiring a strip search.

~ You cannot walk into an operating room with a knife and say you're a surgeon.

~ You cannot commandeer someone's car, no matter how important you tell them your business is.

Not to end on a negative note, here is something you can say: you can stand up in a court of law and say "I plead guilty." 

{{hint, hint}}

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cake         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

6 TBSP crunchy peanut butter

2 TBSP oil

1/3 cup strawberry preserves

1 box strawberry cake mix

1 cup milk

4 eggs

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

2 TBSP peanut butter

5 tsp milk

2 TBSP strawberry preserves

OPT: peanuts for topping

Directions:
*Grease and flour a bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Whisk together 6 TBSP of the peanut butter, the oil, and 1/3 cup of the strawberry preserves. Add the cake mix, 1 cup of the milk, and the eggs. Beat for 2 minutes.

*Pour evenly into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, until the top springs back to the touch.

*Allow the cake to sit in the pan for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edges and removing. Cool to room temperature, then place in the refrigerator until cooled completely.

*Whisk together the remaining peanut butter, the remaining milk, and 2/3 cup of the powdered sugar (it will be thick), Drizzle over the top and partially down the sides of the cake. Return to the fridge.

*Whisk together the remaining strawberry preserves, 5 tsp water, and the remaining powdered sugar (this will be thinner). Drizzle over the top and down the sides of the cake. Top with peanuts if desired. Refrigerate to set before slicing.

*Store leftovers in the fridge, bring just barely up to room temperature to serve.

The Ban, the Bill, and the Clowns

 

I sometimes wonder if a clown car pulls up to the capitol each weekday and all the members of the house majority pile out.

Apparently not. It seems that about a dozen far-right Freedom Caucus buffoons have commissioned a car of their own.

Let the day at the circus begin. Because one car or two, a circus is exactly what they've turned the house of representatives into.

Exhibit one. An incident from just one month ago:

The back story:

The whole issue started to come to light at the end of 2022, when an international study showed that gas stoves emit pollutants that can damage our lungs and increase the risk of, and exacerbate, childhood asthma.

The Consumer Protection Safety Commission (enacted by congress in 1972 but run as an independent agency), admits to have been considering action, but clarifies that any regulations would only apply to new products. 

Some states have banned the installation of gas stoves, but in new homes only. The CPSC has specifically stated that they are not "coming for anyone's gas stoves." When asked, a White House spokesperson stated that Biden does not support banning gas stoves. 

Facts aside (as usual), the republicans went wild. Angry speeches included fiery rants the likes of: the dems want to take away your kitchens! They're coming for your stoves! Even your appliances aren't safe!

Children are dying at alarming rates due to gun violence, but . . . priorities. Fearful that the American people are on the brink of a severely limited edible future consisting of cold salads for dinner and no bake desserts, the House went right to work. 

Jelled Strawberry Tarts

So . . . 

The Consumer Protection Safety Commission is not the federal government and has suggested no bans. And the White House has specifically stated that the president is not in favor of a ban. But you can never be too careful when it comes to the protection of our children appliances. The house republicans drafted a bill.

The "Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act," would block the federal government from banning gas stoves.

Because our great country needs to protect the rights of trans citizens gas stoves to exist. And be free. What does that look like, anyway, free gas stoves? If they're not happy with their current situation, can they, like, consider employment elsewhere? Form a union? Demand days off, maybe?

 

Since the republicans control the house, you'd expect the bill to pass easily, right?

Not so fast. Remember that second clown car?

About a dozen republicans blocked the bill from advancing.

Why? 

Just a week before, the house speaker entered into a deal with the President to raise the debt ceiling. As has always been done in the past, it was necessary to allow the United States to pay our bills, not default, not crash our economy, and not drastically lower our credit rating.

And for brokering that deal, the speaker had to be punished.

So they stopped the bill.

That would block the ban.

That wasn't happening anyway.

Send in the clowns? They're already here.

Jelled Strawberry Tarts         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
9 mini graham cracker pie crusts

1 box (3 oz) strawberry jello mix

4 strawberries

1 container (5.3 oz) strawberry yogurt

OPT: whipped cream and/or additional strawberries for serving

Directions:
*Dissolve the jello powder in 1 cup boiling water. Set aside.

*Core and chop 3 of the strawberries. Place in the bottom of the pie crusts. Add 1 TBSP of the jello to each, set aside the remaining jello and refrigerate the crusts for 20 minutes.

*Remove the crusts from the refrigerator. Whisk the yogurt into the reserved jello. Core, chop, and mix in the remaining strawberry. 

*Pour evenly into the crusts and refrigerate again for at least 45 minutes.

*OPT: garnish with whipped cream and/or additional strawberries for serving.

Makers, Breakers, and Doormats

 

 

 

 Rules are made to be broken. I'm not sure when I first heard that saying, but I know I've heard it many times. 

Now I'm not talking about "i" before "e," except after "c," or when sounding like "a," as in "neighbor" and "weigh. Although, if you're going to talk about rules, that's a perfect example of a rule, not only made to be broken, but that actually includes the rule for breaking the rule. Yikes.

What I am referring to is that space below the level of laws, but above the level of suggestions. Rules.

It's actually General Douglas MacArthur who is credited with the quote. Said, it's thought, to justify unsanctioned actions. I'm not sure why it's lived on, I mean, as persuasive excuses go, that one strikes me as pretty lame. It probably is used so frequently because it's sort of the one-size-fits-all of excuses.

So, I often wondered, if they're so often broken, why make them? 

Well, most communities, micro and macro, over and above laws, need some level of structure. Schools have them, neighborhoods do, and we make them ourselves in our homes, especially when raising children.

At schools, you wait your turn in line, don't cheat on tests, don't write in the books. 

In neighborhoods, you don't snow blow your driveway onto the street for the plow to deposit at the end of someone else's driveway (broken by my neighbor on the left). You don't blow all the leaves from your trees off of your driveway and lawn onto the neighbor's lawn (broken by my neighbor on the right).

And at home, you don't just put your spoon in the dishwasher when there are dirty dishes in the sink (Hubs, I'm looking at you). And you don't put dinner in the oven and then go out to do errands.

 

Quiche Florentine

 

Because we do need to acknowledge that most rules do have a practical purpose. Some about safety, others just about avoiding chaos.

But, of course, they're broken. More and more frequently. All of them. 

 

And I've been noticing a stark change, a shift in attitudes towards behavioral restrictions, functional organization, and the resulting compliance, or growing lack thereof.

There are certain people who just think that rules are made for everyone else, not them. And for those of us, like me, who are generally rule followers (don't roll your eyes, I said "generally"), it makes for a really frustrating existence.

Did you know that MacArthur's quote has a second part? I didn't. It's actually "rules are made to be broken, and are too often for the lazy to hide behind."

I kinda resent that second part, feels awful judgy, demeaning even.

 

Hiding, moral compass, or upbringing, no matter what makes rule followers do so, many are starting to feel like chumps. The more we see those around us reap the benefits of doing whatever they want, and benefiting from that freedom, the more any constraints erode. Jeopardizing safety and moving the balance toward chaos.  

I know the saying is about "assume," but it seems as though it's "responsible" that makes an ass of you and me. A doormat, anyway.

 

In our current social climate, where self-service rules, and few understand the value, and obligation, of "do unto others as you'd have others do unto you" (anyone heard of the Golden Rule?), more people, far too many people, are following suit. Not even feeling at all obliged to justify. Rules, after all, are made to be broken.

 

If not followed by all, rules take on an ominous function, used to bind, to control, and to manipulate. Breaking us into three camps, a caste system of sorts: the makers, the breakers, and the followers.

 

Many of the makers are breakers. The breakers are growing exponentially. Many of the followers have had enough. 

Not really conducive to a functioning society.

I know I said this wasn't about laws, specifically anyway, but there are too many parallels to ignore. Law makers don't follow rules of decorum, of the peoples' house in which they (self) serve, of common decency, or of the laws by which they expect the rest of us to live. When it comes to that higher level of rule making, our laws, and our current crop of law makers, I have my own version of that quote:

Rules are made to be broken by those who make the rules in the first place, to achieve their ultimate goal:

 

Not to protect, not to defend, just, quite simply, to rule.

Quiche Florentine    

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 TBSP grated parmesan

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 stick butter, chopped

1 TBSP milk

6 oz frozen chopped spinach, defrosted

1/3 cup frozen chopped onion, defrosted

1 TBSP flour

1/2 cup mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

3 slices (about 2 oz) provolone cheese, chopped

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:
*Grease your quiche dish.

*Whisk together 1 1/4 cups of flour, the sugar, 1/8 tsp of salt, 1 TBSP grated parmesan, and the Italian seasoning. Add the chopped butter to the bowl and allow to sit for about an hour for the butter to start to soften.

*Add 1 TBSP milk to the dough ingredients and mix together until it starts to form a dough. Place between 2 pieces of wax paper and roll out to about an 11 inch circle. Remove the top piece of wax paper, and carefully place into the prepared quiche dish, dough side down. Remove the top piece of wax paper and gently press the dough into and 3/4 of the way up the sides of the dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

*Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

*Firmly press the spinach between paper towels a few times to remove as much liquid as possible. Place in a large bowl. Do the same with the onions. 

*Sprinkle 1 TBSP flour onto the crust, then sprinkle with the provolone, and finally the mushrooms.

*To the bowl with the spinach and onions, add the eggs, 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup parmesan, 3/4 tsp salt, the pepper, and the cayenne. Whisk together well and pour into the crust.

*Bake for 45 minutes, the quiche should be completely set. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before slicing.