BONG HITS 4 JESUS

So, like most Tuesday nights, a bunch of us gathered at a local gym
to play basketball. It keeps us in somewhat decent shape, and for a
few hours we get to pretend we're still 19-years-old. Our bodies tell
us differently, but those aches and pains are another story.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Afterward, as we nursed our ankles and knees, we discussed politics,
the state of affairs in Iraq, the horrible actions of our mediocre
and minuscule President, how we're fishing in the shallow end of the
gene pool for a successor and, of course, how the United States is
headed to Hell in a hand basket.

One friend of mine is convinced we resemble the last days of the
Roman Empire. As he says (and he works for the government), "The
United States is going down." I guess that's because we're being
overrun by illegal immigrants, terrorists and dipsomaniacal politicians.

A cheery Montgomery County resident, eh?

My other friend is convinced that Islamic fundamentalists are
becoming exceedingly dangerous in this country, especially in this
county, and both of them are convinced that Islamic fundamentalists
are very patient and are converting our own country's youths into
"bomb-wearing" psychopaths.

Me? I just can't get my dander up any more about national politics.
That's the shame of it -- and probably why we are headed to Hell in
an express cart on the highway of best intentions.

I've been isolated, minimalized, polarized, and had rhetoric and
cliches tossed at me until I'm numb. I'm not convinced anyone in
Congress, the Senate, the executive or the judicial branch of
government cares a fig about anyone but themselves. I'm sick to my
stomach that the younger generations of adults coming of age have
known nothing but bickering and fighting on The Hill -- a fight
that's been going on since the horrible Reagan years.

I'm also too busy raising kids, paying bills, avoiding slow people in
the fast lane, avoiding telemarketers and trying to get some
"quality" time with my wife to care about YouTube, Hillary Clinton or
any other Democratic or Republican candidate.

Sad, but that's life in the year 2007 in the heart of Montgomery county.

I don't pretend to be unique and am not sure if I am.

There is, however, one national issue that fills me with passion and
makes my blood boil.

This week the Supreme Court heard testimony in a case where a young
high school student unfurled a sign outside of his high school that
read, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."

While the sign was across the street from school property, the boy's
high school principal was hacked off enough to rip the sign down and
suspend the student.

I'm still laughing, trying to figure out what the heck the sign means
and having too much fun envisioning the apostles as stoners - which
does explain a lot for me.

Of course the sign doesn't mean anything; rather, it was an attempt
by the student to have his principal hoisted on his own petard.

Since the incident at Columbine, the government has become
exceedingly draconian in its view of free speech in high school.
While the courts used to take the approach that students didn't
forfeit their free speech rights at the school house door, in the
recent past courts have reversed themselves to give administrators
ammunition to head off any unforeseen problems among the student populace.

As the man said, anyone who would sacrifice a little freedom for
safety deserves neither.

You cannot impede the free exchange of ideas. Ask Hillary Clinton or
Barack Obama, who were both spoofed on YouTube this week.

You cannot stop free speech. You can shackle it for a while, you can
hassle it, you can hustle it, and you can try to bamboozle it. But in
the end there's nothing that can stop it.

That's the key legacy left to us from our founding fathers. It is why
we won't go the way of the dinosaur or the Roman Empire. It is why,
ultimately, repressive regimes, ideas and people like fundamental
Christians or Muslims will fail.

In other words, have a Bong Hit 4 Jesus. See you on the basketball
court Tuesday.

The Republic is safe.