Speaking truth to power is a good thing, a very good thing. Most of my heroes in life (Johnny Ramone, Joseph Smith jr) have been people who are unafraid to buck the system and yes, speak truth to power. That phrase is truly one of my favorite phrases of all time even though it's a huge cliche and aside from "judge not, lest ye be judge" it might be among the most misunderstood phrase of the last thirty years.
When people think they are "speaking truth to power" nine times out of ten, they are wrong. They only speak truth to power if the power disagrees with them. When people are in authority positions who they agree with-they meekly obey. Look at anti-war liberals. When Bush was in office and he (wrongly) started wars that were illegal they were outraged and took to the streets demonstrating. When Obama bombed countries or refused to pardon whistleblowers-nothing to see folks, move along. This is without question one of the worst things about modern politics. Very few people are consistent in their views.
Speaking truth to power means being yourself no matter who is in charge. It doesn't mean hating all authority, but it means being skeptical of all authority.
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