"Fearless Speech" - M. Foucault

Neil Young has a great song, to be found on "Tonight's the Night," called "Speaking Out." The latest Washington drama (TraitorGate?) shows how one man, standing up, telling the truth as he (Joseph Wilson) knows it, can bring down an empire. Now, I'm not predicting, a complete victory for truth, justice and the American Way, but, it's clear that suddenly alot of people, including a hard-working prosecutor, a group of dedicated citizens (the grand jury) and a newly energized contingent of journalists (and bloggers) are hot on the trail of a great and twisted story of lies and skull-duggery in high places. Cue a little "Fanfare for the Common Man!"

What's especially entertaining, is to see, an honest prosecutor, armed with a trusty briefcase, methodically sifting through "the evidence," taking testimony, checking it twice, pitted against a group of "Public Servants," who got just a little too full of themselves, acting more like a corrupt oligarchy straight out of Shakespeare (think MacBeth, Richard the Third). Little Bush doesn't exactly fit the role of the Mighty taking a fall, (instead he's a very little man, thinking he's a very big man), so I guess this is more of a comedy with tragic overtones, as opposed to a tragedy with comedic overtones.

There's a great movie, called, "The Insider," about the tobacco industry, and one man, who stood up and told the truth. He ends up losing his job, his wife, his children, house, etc. How many of us would be willing to risk it all to do the right thing? How many of us go along with lies, large and small, just to "get along?" Let's honor those amongst us willing to speak up, when speaking up is not the safe or smart thing to do.