We have seen many changes in this great nation which have been
> brought about by left wing activists. As kids, we used to say the
> Pledge of Allegiance. Now, it's being attacked in the courts. We used
> to say a prayer in the morning before school or at football games.
> Socialists in America have deemed that "offensive" and the practice
> has all but disappeared. Christmas displays honoring the birth of
> Christ trigger convulsions by the Left, who say that we shouldn't make
> people feel "uncomfortable" with our manger scenes.
>
> Now, we can't even say what we want to say in public because not only
> will the thought police be on patrol, but, using a recent event in
> Florida as an example, saying "Hussein Obama" in public might just get
> you a visit from the FBI. Just ask Florida's Lee County Sheriff Mike
> Scott who is under fire -- and investigation -- for referring to Obama
> at a campaign rally by his -- gasp -- full name. What is going on with
> America?
>
> At a rally in Estero, Florida on Monday for Gov. Sarah Palin, one of
> the pre-rally speakers was Sheriff Scott. Now, anyone who has been to
> a political rally knows that the job of the warm-up speakers is to do
> exactly as the name implies: warm-up the audience. Whether the
> audience is cheering wildly or booing loudly, the pre-rally speakers
> are there to wake them up and get them going. So... according to ABC
> News
> <http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/pre-rally-speak.html>
> , Sheriff Scott stepped to the podium and said, "On November 4, let's leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened."
>
> Oh, the shock of it all! Speaking someone's full legal name in
> public! When asked about the "incident," Sheriff Scott responded by
> saying:
>
> "I absolutely, unequivocally don't regret saying it," Scott told the
> News-Press on Monday. "In order to be a speaker at this event, I had
> to give my full name - Michael Joseph Scott - to the Secret Service,
> even though I'm the sheriff of Lee County. So why would I apologize?
> Is there some kind of double standard here where I have to give my
> full name, but I can't use his?"
>
> "Unless he changed his name, my position hasn't changed," said Scott
> of Obama. "It seems very clear to me that people have one of three
> stances on this thing: There are those who dislike it, there are those
> who like it, and there are those who think it's a whole big deal about
> nothing, which is where I stand."
>
> As noted in the Cape Coral Daily Breeze
> <http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=21
> 85
> 5> , the Palin campaign responded by issuing the following statement:
>
> "We do not condone this inappropriate rhetoric which distracts from
> the real questions of judgment, character and experience that voters
> will base their decisions on this November."
>
> Fair enough. If Palin or anyone else wants to say the usage of Barack
> Hussein Obama is inappropriate, he or she has a right to do so.
> But Sheriff Scott also has a right to say what he wants to say without
> fear of reprisal by the government. However, according to a local
> Florida NBC affiliate
> <http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=22058&z=3> ,
> Sheriff Scott's remark has now earned him an investigation by the
> federal government.
>
> The NBC station reports that officials with the U.S. Office of
> Special Counsel have started an investigation of the Sheriff under the
> question of "did he use his position as sheriff to influence an
> election? If so, he could be in violation of a federal election law
> called the Hatch Act." The basis the Feds are using is whether Scott
> was campaigning while on duty and in uniform.
>
> Sheriff Scott responded to the NBC story with the following
> statement:
>
> "I am on duty 24/7 and 365 whether in or out of uniform. Like every
> other elected official, I am aware of from President to Governor to
> State Representatives, etc. We engage in political activities whether
> for ourselves as candidates or for others. As of this writing, I am
> unaware of having done anything to generate all this attention other
> than using the senator's full name."
>
> The question is this... If Sheriff Scott had not said "Barack Hussein
> Obama," do you really think he would now be under investigation?
> If you answered "no," then that should send a shiver down your spine,
> because it means that the government is imposing pressure and creating
> a public example of Scott for simply saying someone's name.
>
> Whether the investigation leads to charges or legal action is not the
> point. The point is that government intimidation is being brought to
> bear for someone exercising his first amendment right to free speech.
> This is wrong, regardless of whether you think his usage of Barack
> Hussein Obama was appropriate or not. This is still America, isn't it?
>
>