Herbie Gomez “If you don’t like Hustler magazine, don’t read it.” “If the First Amendment will protect a scumbag like me, it will protect all of you.”-excerpts from “The People vs. Larry Flynt”   MY daughter Shanelle made my day with her Facebook post that was meant to remind her friends about the essence of democracy. That was a reaction to an online petition on Change.org that sought to take down the blog of entertainer Mocha Uson because of her political views and all her supposed misinformation. Shanelle lifted this quote from English writer Evelyn Beatrice Hall’s “The Friends of Voltaire”: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” She then left a punchline: “The online petition isn’t fair. Democracy, everyone.” I am glad that my daughter got it right without me telling her what I think about the matter. The creator of the petition, Paul Quilet, argues that Uson “uses her Facebook page to spread fictitious and false information about pressing issues in the Philippines” that “widens the rift between those who support the current administration and those who are critical of it.” Quilet also adds: “Everyone is free to express what they want. But problems arise when this fundamental right is used to manipulate and condition the public, when it is exploited to serve anyone’s purpose, when it is used as a shield against accountability.” I must say that Quilet has raised very valid points but his call to take down Uson’s blog because of the excesses and the abuse of the fundamental right to freedom of expression was a bit to the extreme if not, downright dangerous. Nobody ever said freedom and democracy wouldn’t be ugly. Of course, these can be abused at times, and in the case of Uson, many times. Democracy provides a marketplace of ideas--intelligent ideas, dumb ideas and even dangerous ideas. Such marketplace can also be turned into a battlefield where good ideas may be used to kill bad ideas, vice versa, or where every idea may be tested and challenged or where people may be made to account for what they state. Quite frankly, I would rather have that than have a society similar to North Korea’s. Or would we rather follow the example of North Korea where there is a systematic suppression of ideas, and where someone like “supreme leader” Kim Jong-un tells people what to think, say, do--and even how to sport their hair? (That, mind you, is not an exaggeration.) Uson is a political supporter--a rockibbed political follower devoted to the personality cult of President Duterte. Despite that, the freedom that people exercise in challenging Duterte’s unorthodox ideas is the same freedom that Uson and Co. should continue to enjoy. Democracy provides enough room for the good, the bad and the ugly. That’s how it works. I have taken note that Uson is a real person with an address and other contact information. She is a citizen of this country who doesn’t hide under the cloak of anonymity. As such, she can be made to account for the things she posts on her blog. Her ideas can be challenged and whatever falsehood she dishes out may be exposed. That means that if your paths happen to cross, you can look her in the eye, grin, and at the back of your head, yell: “Clown!” That is fair enough. That may not be said of insects that evade accountability by being ghosts. Since there is no way to challenge them or extract accountability from these nameless bugs without balls, then I guess they forfeit their right to freedom of expression. That freedom is reserved only for human beings. In their case, it is impossible to determine if they are human, orangutans with the special ability to spell and punch buttons on keyboards or bots. Simply put, we do not know if  these ghosts should be referred to as “they” or “it.” Having said that, I submit that these ghosts should be treated the way we deal or don’t deal with bugs, and that we make their world smaller and smaller everyday. No one ever talks to a cockroach. Pastilan.