Dwain Northey (Gen X)

The First Amendment—remember that old thing? The one scribbled on parchment, waved around at rallies, and trotted out whenever convenient? Well, turns out it now comes with fine print: “Applies only if you’re praising Dear Leader.” Free speech is still on the books, sure—but only if it’s glowing, fawning, and loyal. Criticism? Questioning? Sarcasm? Forget it. That’s “treasonous.” That’s “un-American.” That’s the kind of dangerous speech that gets you exiled from platforms, targeted by mobs, or worse—dragged into the kangaroo court of public opinion where the verdict is already guilty.

And these people—oh, these people—who spent years foaming at the mouth about pronouns, about being “forced” to respect others, decided to spend an entire day at a memorial service turning the English language into their personal weapon. “Us” and “them.” Over and over again, like a holy chant. They stood there declaring themselves the chosen, the righteous, the real Americans, while the rest of us—the critics, the skeptics, the ones who still think the Constitution applies to everyone—were painted as enemies, outsiders, filth to be pushed down, silenced, erased.

The hypocrisy is enough to choke on. They’ll howl about tyranny when someone suggests respecting gender identity, but they’ll cheer and clap when entire groups are told to shut up and “know their place.” They’ll wail that cancel culture is destroying America, but they’ll cancel the First Amendment itself the second Dear Leader’s fragile ego takes a hit. Their “freedom” is a one-way street: they speak, you obey. They preach about liberty while writing a liturgy of exclusion.

And make no mistake, it’s not about reverence, it’s not about mourning, and it sure as hell isn’t about unity. It’s about control. It’s about turning the stage into a pulpit, the pulpit into a weapon, and the weapon into a warning: don’t you dare step out of line. Their entire show of patriotism—flags lowered, hymns sung, tears performed—isn’t about honoring anyone. It’s about indoctrination. It’s about making sure that “freedom of speech” is theirs and theirs alone, while the rest of us are told to sit down and shut up.

This is their America now: a country where the First Amendment is brandished like a sword when it suits them and buried six feet deep when it doesn’t. Where “free speech” means loyalty oaths, where “patriotism” means submission, and where the chosen few get to decide who counts as American. And the rest of us? We’re the “others.” Always the others. Always the enemy.