President Obama on Free Speech

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In an address to the United Nations: “As president of our country, and commander-in-chief of our military, I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day,” Obama said. “And I will defend their right to do so.” For that, he received cheers in the cavernous hall. The president worked to explain — before a sometimes skeptical audience that has never completely bought into the U.S. idea that even hateful speech is protected — why the U.S. values its First Amendment so highly. “We do so because in a diverse society, efforts to restrict speech can become a tool to silence critics, or oppress minorities,” Obama said. “We do so because given the power of faith in our lives, and the passion that religious differences can inflame, the strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech — the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect.” He said Americans “have fought and died around the globe to protect the right of all people to express their view.” http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2012/09/26/before-u-n--obama-champions-free-speech.html

Plainsong

Plainsong
by
Kent Haruf
adult fiction

I saw a list of books that Barack Obama has read since becoming President. Most of them were about history or economics, but then I saw this fiction book among the nonfiction books. I remembered that this book had been considered for our library's "One Community One Book" book as well, so it must have some kind of universal appeal. When I checked it out I also saw that it was a National Book Award finalist.
Those are impressive credentials, so I had high hopes for this book. It is a well written book, but in a quiet way. There are no car crashes or terrorists or murders, although there are some nasty school bullies.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/08/13/obama-reading-the-complete-list-of-his-favorite-books.html
The exact time period of when this is set is not mentioned, but it is probably in the 1970's or 1980's in rural Colorado. A few stories of people in the same small town overlap. There is the teacher whose wife is having a breakdown and is left with his two sons. There is another teacher who is trying to help a young, pregnant teenager. There are also the elderly bachelor brothers who I could not help but thinking of as, in the words of Garrison Keillor, "Norwegian bachelor farmers, so you know they're not only good for you, but also pure, mostly".
They are all trying to get through life as well as they can with the twists and turns that life sends them. They are everyday people in an average American town. You get the idea that they would all be pretty good neighbors to have. That is why the book is entitled "Plainsong". It is just another typical day in late 20th century America. If this book is overlooked in 2011, it might be worth re-reading in 2061 to see how America has changed or is the same.
Already, from the time period in which it is set to today, we can see that unwed mothers are more frequent, divorce is more commonplace, and telephone booths have gone the way of the telegraph.
One thing about the book that struck me right away is that, for some reason, the author has decided not to place any dialog in quotation marks. Why? Probably to keep the flow of the book going. As I said, it is a quiet book that flows like a tide going in and out. Each ebb and flow is the same, but not really. Each time it is slightly different. That's how life in America goes - new people, same old stories.
If I were a teacher I might have students "compare and contrast" this book and its setting and characters to "Our Town" or "Spoon River Anthology" or Keillor's "Lake Wobegon" world.
This book will probably appeal most to a middle-aged or older audience with more female than male readers, although the author is male and the number of male and female characters are fairly well balanced.