I read the paper

Every morning I get the paper on the way to the subway. I used to get the Times but eventually converted to one of the freebie papers in the city, namely the Metro. Ultimately I get it for the crossword puzzle, which is rather comical in itself since the Metro crossword is not much of a challenging cerebral exercise to begin with. I can see our old family friend Donald getting irate in my mind and remember fondly his astounding knowledge of the English language. I know technically you can spell amoeba without the "o", but really, who actually does.
Anyway, not the reason I'm writing myself into a silly rant. And yes, I know 1-down was "goop" and not "glop", and it's "n-y-e-t", I got it, I got it.

So, the same page that has the crossword and horoscope also has a little daily opinion piece called "Today's Debate". I rarely bother, but the speedy jostling from Queens Plaza to Lexington Avenue made writing an impossibility so my eyes wandered. It's typically a simple question, asked of three different individuals here in our area. Perhaps I rarely bother because inevitably someone says something that makes me want to scream. And so, today's debate:

Hmm, not a bad question I thought. Jack from Jersey thinks it goes against the spirit of the games. I can see where he is going with that. Matt the financier thinks it is disrespectful to the host country which is communist. Okay, yeah, I understand where he is coming from too. And then, ...

I do realize that they didn't necessarily say "activists in China", but I think it is safe to say, given the recent headlines, everyone read the question that way. And assuming so, um, excuse me? Are you serious?!? Free citizens shouldn't have to limit their free speech out of politeness?!?!?!? I don't even know where to begin with this! That is the dumbest goddamn thing I've heard all week. Are some people actually dumb enough that they do not realize that when you leave America you aren't then actually in America any more? Yeah, wow, take a minute, that is a lot to process. And perhaps those same freedoms and liberties don't apply?

Yeah, wake-up call Gina!

When you are in a communist country you are not a free citizen. And free speech, yeah, they're not so much for that. Thousands of years of history, and the laws that have come from that history, whether just or not, have nothing to do with American narrow-mindedness, or "politeness". Geesh! Trust me, I know, I lived there. It was wild not being able to keep the key to your own room, to be told when you could eat or shower, to be under such a mentally oppressive eye at times. But, in another country you play by their rules because, well, it's their goddamn country. Sure, I developed my own thoughts about what I was shown and what I actually saw, but who are we but visitors? "Polite" my ass. I guess travel and cultures and objectivity aren't popular conversation topics wherever this woman "studies". Oh, ...that's depressing.