Is too much sensitivity affecting our freedom?

“Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep and doesn’t know where to find them.” Everyone remembers silly nursery rhymes like this one. Have you noticed, however, that no one writes these cute little phrases anymore? Politically correctness has run amuck with even the smallest bits of joy that once touched our hearts. Being offended and discriminated against is replacing the inner core of our society to the point that our country has little to offer.

     America was made great by immigrants that saw opportunity for anyone that stepped on her sweet soil. It didn’t matter if you only had pennies in your pocket. Hard work and determination was all that was needed. Of course, some had more fortitude than others, were willing to put in more sweat and tears, but all had the same opportunity to create their lives with freedom from socialism and dictatorship. How sad that a society of sheep has turned the US into a melting pot of lust and greed.

     For example, take a Southern Belle that grew up pretty, popular, and poor. Marrying her childhood sweetheart might have been a bad decision, but she made the best of it with 2 young boys in tow. After losing both of her parents by the age of 23 and moving 20 times in as many years with a husband that could not hold a job, Paula Deen stopped feeling sorry for her self and decided to go after her own opportunity. With no formal education, no relatives for support, and no money in the bank, she started making and delivering sack lunches from her kitchen.

     Now, think about this. Would you prepare sandwiches, visit businesses, and peddle brown bag lunches? Most of us would be too embarrassed to show our town the despair of being penniless. Not to mention the fact that she made her 2 sons help her, as well! Perhaps it was time to sign up for welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, and reap the benefits of the government system, and still be there today. No way! At 44 years old, Paula realized what a tragic mistake that she had made with her life and decided to suck up her emotional ailments and hit the pavement.

     Paula Deen has become a fine example of how hard work and determination provides a good life when the opportunity of freedom is used. However, the wheels of lust have been greased for too long with strong voices of inequality, a broken legal system, and sheep that follow the crowd, stealing the very freedom that America was based upon.

     21 years after memories of sleeping with cockroaches, being raised without indoor plumbing, yet turning away from the system, Paul Deen oversees successful restaurants, has published popular cookbooks, including her latest, “Paula Deen Cuts the Fat”www.pauladeen.com/blog/paula-deen-cuts-the-fat and recently started a line of furniture – www.youtube.com/watch?t=44&v=OZJt-LMNBf8 that will wrap it ‘arms’ around you with unconditional love. These are just a few of the notable achievements that prove where there is a will, there is a way.

     Good old-fashioned southern cooking, learned from her grandmother, was the basis of Paula’s start. As American as apple pie, what could go wrong? The self-acclaimed and well-loved ‘Belle of the South’ was offered large sums of money for her perky personality, straight-forward cooking methods, and her ability to draw crowds. However, it only took one disgruntled employee of 5 years to destroy the empire that Deen had built. A lawsuit alleging sexual harassment against Deen’s brother, Earl “Bubba” Hiers, brought national attention to Paula Deen Enterprises as a discriminating employer. A second employee stepped in and began making statements about racial slurs, and the media was off to the races. One year later, the courts found in favor of Paula Deen Enterprises, but the damage was done. Cancelled contracts, a lost publisher, and harmful ridicule from food critics and health conscious groups have continued to batter Paula’s reputation.

     Time has come for change because while exploiters continue their rants about unhealthy southern cooking, the unfairness of Paula’s wealthy status, and the recent promotion of diabetic medication (what?), sheep continue to follow.

     However, the south has always been strong in their principles and desires and maybe, just maybe, the sheep are changing course. Paula Deen followers are not ready to give up on the values of a great country and Paula, plus her family, is not either. We hope that this is a turning point for America to proclaiming freedom once again. We need some new nursery rhymes. The old ones are getting stale.