Required Reading

Carol Johnson, the Emuse, looks at those “16 words” and concludes with this:

If you look at the speeches and documents of our elected officials 50 years ago, let alone those of our founding fathers, it is abundantly evident that we have created an environment in which sincere, straight-forward speech is no longer tolerated.

We should not, therefore, be surprised when we no longer receive it. (To presume to be aghast at its absence is merely childish affectation.)

We should think long and hard as to whether we’d like its return. And what each of us is doing to either promote it or stifle it.

Read the whole thing, of course. And then join me in asking Carol to turn her conclusion into an essay all its own. She’s raised a vital point, and I think it needs much more discussion.