Dear Editor:

A haunting music video — by Disturbed — covering Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” recalls my own silencing. Art Garfunkel said the song was about the inability of people to communicate with each other.  Disturbed’s interpretation may well target our submission to the “neon gods” of technology, preferring sterile digital contact over personal interaction. Their powerful visual metaphor reunites discarded musical instruments with “never shared” songs. Go experience this beautifully crafted arrangement.   

 Censorship silenced me. Well-reasoned, vetted opinions were opposed by a media outlet ignoring America’s bedrock freedom of speech. Over time, my words were blocked. 

I couldn’t criticize their favored presidential candidate, just like the Navy veteran they shunned after he proved their man’s involvement in a son’s sketchy foreign deals. I couldn’t denounce Black leaders avoiding the epidemic of Black babies born out of wedlock, or ask why they cowed to a white man boasting of “owning” their presidential vote. I couldn’t debate “white privilege,” even coming from a financially poor but love-rich childhood spent in an 800-square-foot, two-bedroom home housing six. 

Now that thought control is federal policy, I’m not alone. A White House press secretary admits her administration identifies “problematic posts” for Facebook to censor. This bone-chilling confession of government shackling speech mirrors the surgeon general’s call to purge online posts he deems inaccurate. 

All totalitarian leaders silence dissent. To those who “bowed and prayed” to a regime now denying their child’s voice and liberty, are you not yet disturbed? 

Robert Szypulski is a resident of Irwin, Pennsylvania