Better than no comment

Wanna make a point today about your right "keep yo damfool mouf shut."

Rachel Dolezal has got this concept firmly secured to whatever holdfast she is using.

Her just-released statement to the Spokane branch of the NAACP says this about the controversy swirling around her: "I have waited in deference while others expressed their feelings, beliefs, confusions and even conclusions - absent the full story."

That's it. That's all she has to say about the matter. Everything else in her statement deals with human rights & etc.

Lemme refresh yer memory: "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."

That's the 1st Amendment. There are other parts of the Constitution, the 5th Amendment in particular, that preserve your right to Not. Say. A. Thing.

Under the law, no one can force you to say anything (grand juries excepted). People are gonna try. People are gonna put words in your mouth. That won't make those words your. People will take what you say and twist it, distort it, pervert it, change it and it will eventually get so turned around that it's the exact opposite of what you said, meant, intended and etc.

Let 'em.

Say nothing.

Don't even say "no comment." Just look at them, Walk away if you want to.

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. Proverbs 17:28

Ehhhh, not really. People are going to accuse you of having something to hide. Let 'em accuse. Without anything to back 'em up, they are just warming the room by blowing hot air. Of course, some people will believe the blowhards. Let 'em.

Do not feed the fire.

Serious criminals will tell you when the police show up, don't say anything. Nervous blabber will get you into more trouble than you can get out of.

"A closed mouth gathers no foot."

If you MUST speak, then do so as Dolezal said. Get a written statement out. Make sure it is posted publicly and completely. Let others do as they will. When more questions come, point to the statement. Point as in indicate a direction with your finger. Say, nothing. Hand out printed copies of the original statement.

If you still feel the need to say more, find a print journalist you trust. Find a journalist who will print your entire comments, unedited, unchanged and complete. Talk to him (her) and get your side out that way. Do NOT expect a broadcast journalist to give you a complete and impartial airing. Larry King at CNN used to do that, but he's retired. There are a few more broadcast journalists who'll let you have your uninterrupted and unmodified say (Phil Streetman at Channel 51 is one), but they are more rare than an honest politician. Print, for all the complaints, is solid, permanent and trusted (yes huh, just look at what's in your news feed.)

If you decide to speak to journalists, throw this requirement: You get 100 percent full right of approval of the entire story before it airs. No approval, no story. The only place you're gonna get this is on live broadcast journalism and print journalism.

Your best bet remains, keeping your mouth shut.

Remember, this too comes with consequences. Dolezal resigned from her post at the NAACP. Likely her college teaching post is under scrutiny too. This probably was going to happen even if she said nothing. But this way, she has a lot more control over what does happen and how.