The progressive left has never been a fan of the whole “Freedom of Speech” thing. Oh, they sing it’s praises as long as they are the ones doing the talking, but as soon as anybody else tries to express an opinion they disagree with, it’s all “hate speech”, or not “politically correct”, or the current favorite, “racist.” It’s even worse on what should be bastions of free expression, college campuses. There they have “Speech Codes”, and “Free Speech Zones.” Neither of which seem to apply to anyone who is spouting the far left’s extremist agenda.
“‘Hate speech’ is a made-up term used to justify censorship. It’s an un-American idea, used by anti-American people. It’s a marker for fascism.” — Glenn Reynolds
“I think the notion that we should treat pole dancing like constitutionally protected free speech while we try to ban actual political speech is just one of the loopiest manifestations of our popular confusion over the First Amendment.” — Jonah Goldberg
Both of these statements refer to what I have often said. The progressive left really doesn’t like the concept of Free Speech. They want to make any speech they disagree with illegal. They use Orwell’s 1984 as a training manual, instead of the warning it was meant to be.
Setting the way back machine to 2008 for this quote from the recently elected US Senator Barack Hussein Obama:
“No one should get a free pass to violate the basic civil liberties of the American people – not the President of the United States, and not the telecommunications companies that fell in line with his warrantless surveillance program. We have to make clear the lines that cannot be crossed.”
Ya, he was lying when he said that. That is pretty consistent with just about everything else he has said.
That is how Ed Driscoll tags it, and he’s probably right.
“In Wetumpka, we are patriotic Americans. We peacefully assemble. We petition our government. We exercise the right to free speech. And we don’t understand why the government tried to stop us.
I’m not here as a serf or a vassal. I’m not begging my lords for mercy. I’m a born free American woman. Wife, mother, and citizen. And I’m telling my government that you’ve forgotten your place. It’s not your responsibility to look out for my wellbeing and to monitor my speech. It’s not your right to assert an agenda. Your post, the post that you occupy, exists to preserve American liberty. You’ve sworn to perform that duty, and you have faltered…
What the government did to our little group in Wetumpka, Alabama is un-American. It isn’t a matter of firing or arresting individuals. The individuals who sought to intimidate us were acting as they thought they should, in a government culture that has little respect for its citizens. Many of the agents and agencies of the federal government do not understand that they are servants of the people. They think they are our masters. And they are mistaken.
I’m not interested in scoring political points. I want to protect and preserve the America that I grew up in. The America that people crossed oceans and risked their lives to become a part of. And I’m terrified it is slipping away.
Just why are those on the left afraid of the free and open exchange of ideas? Is it because they know their policies would not survive in a truly open and honest exchange of ideas?
“Oreos,” “traitors,” and “Uncle Toms“ are just a few of the ugly names that black conservatives have been called for having the audacity to oppose the nation’s first black president. According to AP writer Valerie Bauman, Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the conservative Frederick Douglass Foundation, has been called much worse. “I’ve been told I’m a spook at the door,” reports Johnson. “I’ve been told I hate myself.”
…
The great irony, of course, is that the need for blacks to fall in line rather than think for themselves is the worst kind of racial stereotyping—self policing. It is precisely this kind of ugly mob tactics that Democrats claim to find so abhorrent.
Allahpundit points out the disgusting level of hypocrisy shown by the Obama White House:
Decide for yourself what the most disgraceful aspect of this is. Was it the fact that Gibbs told Jake Tapper explicitly on Monday that the White House wouldn’t try to dictate to the press pool who should and shouldn’t be included — before doing precisely that? Was it Anita Dunn going out of her way to say she respects Major Garrett as a fair reporter — before the administration decided he didn’t deserve a crack here at Feinberg? Or was it the repeated insistence by Dunn and Axelrod that of course the administration will make its officials available to Fox — before pulling the plug today?
A free and unfettered press is a key element of a functional constitutional republic. A fact that too many so-called “liberals” are sadly all to willing to ignore as long as their political enemies are the ones be oppressed.
It is also very disturbing to see the President of the United States to be more concerned with his “War” on those in the news media who dare to not march in lockstep with his agenda than the war Islamofascists have declared on America.
This action raises this important question, “What does Barack Hussein Obama and his administration have against the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America?”
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.
It is widely excepted that the free speech and press clause is focused on “Political” topics. The American people have to be able to freely report on and discuss their government and the effects on them, in order to maintain a free society.
Team Lightbringer doesn’t seem to be on board with this concept. The Obama White House, through it’s official spokesmen, have publicly attacked members of the American News Media, and public figures, who have published stories that the Obama administration doesn’t like.
What happened to the classic liberals who stated, “I do not agree with what you are saying, but I’ll defend your right to say it”? They seemed to have been replaced with thin skinned leftists who viciously attack anyone who dares to disagree with their agenda.
Tapper: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one –
(Crosstalk)
Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.
Tapper: But that’s a pretty sweeping declaration that they are “not a news organization.” How are they any different from, say –
Gibbs: ABC –
Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?
Tapper: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one –
(Crosstalk)
Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.
Tapper: But that’s a pretty sweeping declaration that they are “not a news organization.” How are they any different from, say –
Gibbs: ABC –
Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?
What is this White House afraid of? A news organization that points out that Obama has admitted Communists and supporters of pedophilia working for him? Aren’t those actual facts that the American people should be aware of? Doesn’t the American people have a right to know just which health insurance officials are in those secret meetings with Joe Biden?
Just to add to the stench of Obama’s “Enemies List” is the flat out hypocrisy of Team Lightbringer. The White House talking Head Gibby specifically singled out two of Fox News’ opinion format hosts, Beck and Hannity, as the reason for the Obama White House War on Fox News (which they are spending more time and effort than the war against Islamofascism being fought in Afghanistan) at the same time they are bringing in MSNBC’s hate mongersOlbermann & Maddow, who are clearly lapdogs of the Obama Administration, in for private briefings.