Susan Beckett

can’t remember when I’ve read a more one-sided and biased rant than the one by Muhammad Naeem (Another Pandemic) as I read this past week in the Chronicle. Name-calling, misinformation, racist comments, and blatant lies rip this great nation apart on every front, and his submission was replete with them.

A new game show hit our TV’s back in 1999 with Regis Philbin hosting. “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” was an instant success, with millions (no pun intended) turning in each week to watch one lucky competitor answer questions and win money.

Touchy. Hypersensitive. Thin-skinned. Do any of these terms sound familiar to you? We are living in a time where people are offended by any little thing. A driver got offended because her friend put on her seatbelt and the driver thought it was a comment on her driving ability.

Way back when I was in junior high, our family had a pet Mynah bird. We purchased him at Sears for a whopping $29.95. We think he was a dude but we named him Babydoll, and boy, was he ever the talker! Mynah's are known for their verbal skills and this guy picked up everything - so fun!

It should come as no surprise to you that we are living in a time where our basic freedoms are being challenged, and at the sometime, our basic freedoms are being affirmed. Is freedom of speech something we, as Americans, possess or something we repress? I’d venture to say at this point there is a huge chasm between those two camps!