I was looking for something to watch on tv tonight and I noticed that I had recorded \u201cA Man for All Seasons\u201d recently.\u00a0 But when I started it, I saw that I had missed the beginning and it started in the middle of Henry VIII\u2019s visit to Thomas\u2019s home.\u00a0 I was disappointed but then realized that even watching part of this movie was more enticing than watching any one of a hundred movies that I had ready in their entirety.\u00a0 Now why I haven\u2019t already added this movie to my collection is a mystery for which I should be rebuked.\u00a0 It is indeed an inspirational film.<\/p>\n
But what struck me while I was watching it was a line that two of the characters used in the story.\u00a0 At two separate points someone says, \u201cThis isn\u2019t Spain you know, it\u2019s England!\u201d\u00a0 And this is meant to mean that England is a free country and not full of religious zealots that would burn you at the stake for superstitious nonsense.\u00a0 But of course, one of them is Cromwell who arranges perjury to have Thomas More beheaded for refusing to sign an oath confirming Henry\u2019s legitimacy as head of the Church in England.\u00a0 Even more amusing, the Cardinal who assisted Cromwell in this witch hunt was literally burned at the stake a few years later.<\/p>\n
And now the reason I\u2019m writing this essay.\u00a0 That little phrase that the characters recited reminded me of what we used to repeat, \u201cIt\u2019s a free country, I can say what I please.\u201d\u00a0 It was a trite saying.\u00a0 But it was true.\u00a0 You could say or believe whatever you wanted to.<\/p>\n
But is that still a true statement?\u00a0 No, it is not.\u00a0 There are many things you may not say.\u00a0 The COVID episode proved that.\u00a0 The government proved that.\u00a0 They ordered the social media platforms to censor anything they didn\u2019t like about COVID.\u00a0 And they did it.\u00a0 And they hid the fact that they did it.\u00a0 So, most people never knew there were other sides to the story.\u00a0 They did it so successfully that most people still don\u2019t know just how many lies the government told about COVID.\u00a0 And they did the same sort of thing about Hunter\u2019s Laptop and a host of other stories that were embarrassing to the Biden administration.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s gone well beyond political issues.\u00a0 They censor stories about pediatric transgender drug therapies and surgeries, illegal immigration criminality, price increases on food and housing, unemployment figures; basically, anything that makes the Biden administration look bad.\u00a0 And of course, the biggest coverup was the fact that Joe Biden was suffering from dementia.<\/p>\n
So, is this really still a free country?\u00a0 I would have to say that since the \u201cPatriot Act\u201d was signed into law we have ceased to be free.\u00a0 The government knows everything we say and the government now censures anything we say that they don\u2019t like.<\/p>\n
Well, that\u2019s where we are.\u00a0 It\u2019s a discouraging thought.\u00a0 But watching More\u2019s story helped.\u00a0 Here was a man surrounded by jackals and yet he lived his life in service to the good.\u00a0 He exemplified intelligence, honesty and humanity.\u00a0 His enemies ultimately destroyed him and yet history has recognized his excellence while branding his persecutors as pernicious, dishonest and cowardly.<\/p>\n
I hardly see myself as martyr material.\u00a0 I enjoy annoying Camera Girl too much to want to end up on the chopping block either figuratively or literally.\u00a0 But I do think we should all be willing to pay some price to oppose the forces that have gained a stranglehold on America.\u00a0 We\u2019re all guilty of laziness in some sense or other and it behooves us to step up and try to make a difference in our families and local communities.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t Spain you know!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was looking for something to watch on tv tonight and I noticed that I had recorded \u201cA Man for All Seasons\u201d recently.\u00a0 But when<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,239,237],"tags":[2931,29,3299,2932],"class_list":["post-30242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-a-man-for-all-seasons","tag-freedom","tag-freedom-of-speech","tag-sir-thomas-more"],"yoast_head":"\n