The Militant Left's Suppression of Our Free Speech Rights

A disturbing trend seems to be gaining momentum in America.  We are seeing fewer and fewer liberals engaging in our nation’s political discourse and a far greater number of militant leftists that are doing so.  Leftists, as was reiterated by a member of that group to me lately, are inherently anti-constitutionalists.  Therein lays the greatest difference between liberals and leftists.  Liberals still tend to be staunch supporters of the rule of just law and especially the laws enshrined in the constitution.  Leftists want to advance a progressive agenda and are less concerned with the trampling of a few laws or constitutional rights in doing so because to them the end justifies the means.  I would imagine my defining of these terms will further anger some folks, but words have meanings and I want to make sure that readers understand how I define these terms as used in my post so that there won’t be any confusion.

The latest expression of this leftism-run-amok is their penchant for wanting to dissuade, if not outright suppress, free speech.  We have seen this occur on college campuses, as the overwhelming majority of professors are leftists set on indoctrinating our bright but ignorant children.  We have seen this occur in the progressive ideology perpetrated in our left-leaning media.  We have seen this occur in the censoring of conservative content on Facebook and YouTube.  We have even seen attempts of shutting down debate in congress from leftists, particularly when it came time to discuss DACA.  Sadly, the problem is growing at a seemingly exponential rate.

Many of these leftists engage in what can aptly be characterized as “Stalinist” tactics as they seem to want nothing more than to issue a gag order on free speech.  This is particularly visible on most college campuses where “safe spaces” are established to provide leftist students a respite from the “racist, sexist, homophobic” conservatives.  These leftists talk about “white privilege” and “micro-aggressions” as a means to stifle debate and intimidate those whom disagree with their leftist agenda.  It is ironic in the extreme that for all of the left’s talk about inclusivity, they certainly don’t want diverse opinions to enter the public discussion.  Only leftist thought is celebrated and championed.  It is the only time where any form of homogeneity is required; homogeneity of thought.

Recently the “Student Power Network” at Penn State University has made demands to the university president that he denounce and defund right-wing “hate groups” that engage in anti-immigrant rhetoric.  Evidently anyone that speaks up for the rule of law in enforcing our borders is now a member of a “hate group” according to them.  Dissenting speech won’t be tolerated by most students there accordingly. 

There are many other numerous cases of conservative students having their first amendment free speech rights threatened on college campuses.  Last December a couple of young men wearing “make America great again” ball caps were accosted in a Fordham University coffee house that doubles as a “safe space” by a social justice warrior.  The young men were not even discussing politics but rather their preparations for finals when they were yelled at and asked to leave. “Get out! Five minutes,” the worker barked. “I’m protecting our customers … you are wearing hats that completely violate safe space policy. You have to go. ” She exploded when Michael Esposito, 19, asked her to explain. “Fascism, Nazis!” shouted the militant leftist. “You have three minutes.”  Evidently this is just one more example of leftists protecting their campus from any dissenting opinion.

This has long been the case too at many universities throughout the nation when conservative leaders are invited to speak on campus, especially at commencement ceremonies.  The Leftist students and faculty are not content to simply not attend the speech and ignore it if these so choose, but they must make sure nobody else can safely attend either.  This was ironically illustrated at Berkeley last year, the supposed birth place of campus free speech, when antifa thugs came out in force in violent response to conservative Milo Yiannopoulos coming to speak.  To these leftist thugs, merely taking issues with a progressive position is considered hate speech.

Sadly, this chilling effect on free speech is not simply limited to college campuses.  I have written this blog under a pseudonym and cancelled my Facebook account years ago when it became possible that I might be laid off and have to seek a new job.  This wasn’t because I supported the KKK or championed misogynistic views towards women.  It was simply because I am a pro-life, pro-traditional-marriage, constitutional conservative. It is because I espouse orthodox conservative views that many PC members of most large corporate human relations departments would nowadays possibly consider as “hate speech”, thereby making me an ineligible candidate for hiring despite my exemplary skills.

This has come to a head where YouTube and Facebook routinely censor conservative content while very seldom doing so for leftist content.  Indeed Senator Scott took issue recently when Facebook blocked two conservative ladies who go by the names of Diamond and Silk who are supporters of Donald Trump because they presented information that was “unsafe to the community.”  Senator Scott asked,

“What is it about two black women espousing their support of the president of the United States that makes them ‘unsafe’ for the community? They aren’t bullies. They aren’t violent. They aren’t inciting riots. I don’t always agree with their methodology or even some of their statements, but I don’t have to agree with them. That’s the beauty of the First Amendment, isn’t it?  Tell me, if they were two African-American liberals espousing their views about a liberal political figure, would they too be considered ‘unsafe’? I don’t think they would.”

It has gotten so scary that California lawmakers are now considering a bill over concerns over “fake news” that would tighten control over free speech on a whole host of online activities.  The fact that the government is looking to control what is “free speech” should frighten the hell out of all of us, even if this first step is only from the moon-bat state of California.

“Beating people up, organizing boycotts for perceived unforgivable offenses, or preventing speakers from being heard on a college campus, it’s all coming from the same place: a desperate desire to stop debate by branding your opponent unacceptable and driving him or her from the public square,” stated Laura Ingraham after having confronted gun-control activist David Hogg and thereby suffering a loss of a few cowardly advertisers due to Hogg requesting a boycott of her show. Ingraham continued, “Their objective is a total transformation of American society, not through rational discourse and open debate, but through personal demonization and silencing.”

Constitutionally-minded liberals and conservatives need to stand together in defending free speech in all places and in all guises.  The political pendulum can and will swing back to the other side, and we do not want either side circumventing or ignoring our first amendment rights for free speech.  Today, it is conservatives who are having their free speech shut down.  It could just as easily be liberals tomorrow.  We need to work together to ensure neither happens.

There is a reason our Founding Fathers specifically mentioned free speech in the very first amendment to the Bill of Rights.  It was to protect speech, especially political speech, that some might find uncomfortable, controversial, or even disgusting.  If all speech was agreeable and non-controversial, there would not ever be a need to protect it.  Now is the time for conservatives and liberals to work together to ensure this right is never subverted, for to allow it to become so would be the next major step in bringing down the liberties of our constitutional republic.

The Politics of Intolerance, Hate, and Anti-Semitism on College Campuses

There never was a nation called Palestine. It was a region -- and it was populated by Jews and Arabs alike. The entire cause of disavowing, boycotting, and the would-be destruction of Jewish Israel is patently dishonest. Most "Palestinians" are from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and so on: not the region called Palestine. Indeed, Yasser Arafat, the terrorist leader of the PLO and subsequent "Nobel Peace Prize" winner, was himself Egyptian. (The fact that Arafat was awarded the prize speaks to the lack of credibility of this once noble committee.) This charade is all bogus and stems from anti-Semitic hate towards Israel and Jews.

Sadly, the anti-Semitism in U.S. universities has often been created by the students within them from the Middle East who covet Israel’s land and prosperity.  And then there are many professors who tow the seemingly progressive line and promulgate the agenda of decrying the "racism, apartheid practices, and oppression of the Zionists" which has sickened the minds of young students who trust such authority figures blindly. The students don't bother to do the research to find out the history and the truth of what is really going on in Israel. Sadly, even a loved one of mine has succumbed to these lies and refuses to even look at the contrary and inarguable EVIDENCE of the truth.

When the Palestinian government allies itself with Hamas and Hezbollah, whose very charters call for the destruction of Jewish Israel and denies its right to even exist, who really are the hateful ones? Indeed, if Israel were to unilaterally disarm, they would be over-run and utterly destroyed immediately. They would be wiped off the face of the map, as the former president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, once stated was his goal. On the other hand, if the "Palestinian" people and surrounding hostile nations were to unilaterally disarm, there would finally be peace in the region.

Therein resides the difference.

Therein one finds who is truly hateful.



For more information on the struggle in Israel, please read my older post on the topic here.




H/T to Carrie for the video and much of the information comprising this post.