I’m not really one to speak out loudly about much of anything… ask anyone who knows me, they’ll tell you I’m usually quite shy and very easy to get along with… but if you provoke me too much… well, let’s just say… you’d best back up, take your pack and run!

Politics can be an ugly subject for many, but what I don’t understand is why people can’t just agree to disagree instead of taking things so personally? I can respect those who may believe differently from me as long as they understand why and can back up their beliefs with facts. I’m so tired of this “jump on the bandwagon” mentality or follow the “celebrity leader” junk that has become the political norm for the day. After all, do celebrities really know the ins and outs of national security, how to effectively rescue hostages, plan an attack on the enemy?

There’s more to it than just pie in the sky cotton candy dreams and eloquent speech. There are real lives at stake, including yours and mine. You would think by the way political parties attack one another that we are fighting the enemy instead of trying to make our country greater and further along the American way. Why is it that some individuals need to make fun of someone’s opinion that differs from theirs and then make a mockery out of it? But even more than that, why must people take such stabs at the other side of the political spectrum, making a mockery not only out of the person, but out of the office that person represents?

Which leads me to the reason for this article: I came across a picture on the Internet that made my blood boil. I’m sure there are many photos out there that would do the same, but this one in particular hit me because it was, “all in the name of art and freedom of speech.” The photo was of an “art sculpture” (and believe me, I use those words lightly) of one of the most recognizable individuals in the entire world. The object, a urinal; painted in the likeness and image of President George W. Bush, and crafted in such a way so that the bowl of the urinal was his open mouth. One cannot help but see the visual of what that object implied. I was outraged that anyone could even think of creating such a degrading, disrespectful, filthy, reprehensible, juvenile, disgusting, offensive, repulsive, grotesque, insulting piece of excrement; let alone proudly display it in public as a “work of art.”

I hesitated giving any more notice of this most despicable piece of vulgarity, yet as I thought more about it, I became more and more incensed. Why hasn’t someone said something about this? Why haven’t more people been appalled over this blatant disgraceful mockery of our former President? I have to say, if this piece of rubbish had been made in the image of President Barack Obama there would have been numerous stories in the papers, magazines, and newscasts, not just local mind you, but world-wide. The artist would have immediately been labeled a racist, a hate monger, a threat to society… there would have been riots in the streets and serious hell to pay! But as of yet, I have not seen one inkling of a story, in the paper or television news, that addresses this object as being an atrocious piece of disrespect.

Wake up Americans! This is not acceptable “freedom of speech, art, or creativity.” This is sheer meanness at the expense of another fellow American; a deliberate display of hate and ridicule.

In researching for this article, I discovered a statement from the artist in which he says he’s “grateful to live in a country where we can still express our opinions… and that sometimes it is appropriate to be inappropriate.” He further stated, “No one was maimed, killed, overthrown… in the creating of this art…”

So pardon my “inappropriate” comment if you will when I say freedom of speech, art or expression in this case was used in such a vulgar, degrading, and reprehensible way, that I think this “artist” is a complete ass! And, though it would be most “appropriate” to paint HIS face in MY toilet bowl, I would rather leave you with this thought…

It’s time we Americans stop this infighting among political parties and work together to unite our country as the land of the free and the home of the brave. I hate war. I hate that lives are willingly sacrificed and many innocent lives are lost. I hate the expense, the separation, the hardship on the families, the businesses, the government, so many things… but I realize we live in an imperfect world and we cannot close our eyes to the fact that we have a real enemy, an enemy that will stop at nothing to destroy our way of life simply because we believe differently, and simply because we are Americans (9/11/2001 proved it). The price of freedom is dear indeed, but not nearly so costly as the very LOSS of that freedom.

Make no mistake about it… you wouldn’t want to live without it…

UPDATE: A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR can be read here.