Tag Archives: Free Speech

If Harris and Walz Win, You Lose.
It is That Simple.

By Anthony Trevlac

Aug. 11, 2024
4-min read

For those who pay close attention to public affairs, global or domestic, the quadrennial search for a new president is frustrating.

It is certain that huge majorities of people will vote without knowing very much about the challenges we face or about the people running, I have friends who say they don’t follow the news or the campaign, but are very certain they will never vote for Trump.

Really? You don’t even know what is at stake, the facts, or the records of the candidates, but you are certain of your decision? That doesn’t make sense. It isn’t logical to say BOTH that you don’t know much AND that you are certain for whom you will vote. It makes as much sense as your doctor saying they won’t examine you but are confident they have the right diagnosis.

We have a chance to vote for one of two people who have track records. This SHOULD be among the easiest voting decisions we’ve ever seen. Was the nation better off under Trump or under Harris & Biden? That will tell you how to vote.

Harris and Walz are the most socialist/leftist pair to ever seek our nation’s highest offices, and it isn’t even close. But they are running hard from their records and don’t even want you to know what they believe. Of course, Harris has been VP, and they say she was part of every action the Biden White House has taken, so she owns their dismal record. But, the good news is that, if you want to vote for a guy who signed a law requiring tampons to be available in boys restrooms, you’ve got your chance, because Walz did just that.

The addition of Walz to the ticket confirms they think they can win by relying on identity politics and socialist/leftist policies. Maybe they can.

The Dems are presenting a marketing campaign, not a political campaign. They don’t even PRETEND to care about issues. And it has never been so clear.

Gov. Walz is a sign that the antisemitic cohort of the Democrat Party is in charge. Walz sucks up to the radical Islamists in MN and elsewhere. He has repeatedly hosted a MN cleric who celebrated the Oct. 7 attacks. That is the Dem choice for VP. He has explained that free speech guarantees don’t apply to hate speech and misinformation. Well… of course they do. The First Amendment was designed, specifically, to apply to free political speech that you don’t like. The Dem leaders are now saying, openly, that First Amendment protections do NOT apply to speech they don’t like.

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A Right to Voice Antisemitism?

By J Robert Smith

May 2, 2024
6-min read

The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh (he of “What is a Woman” fame) aired a segment from his show last week at X. Walsh addressed Governor Greg Abbott’s crackdown on anti-Israeli/pro-Hamas protests at Texas colleges. Abbott declared, in effect, that there wasn’t room in the Lone Star State for antisemites. In fact, yes, there is.

As odious as antisemitism is, Americans have rights to be antisemitic – anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, anti-white, anti-black, anti-homosexual, anti-heterosexual. You get the point. We have rights to our prejudices no matter how vile. Moreover, we have a right to public expression of those biases. We’re free to assemble with likeminded people so long as assemblies are peaceful and laws are obeyed. On the other hand, we’re free to condemn bigots and haters. We should. We can gather publicly to do so if we care to.

Eruptions of lawlessness and violence at Columbia, Harvard, and UCLA in the last 48 hours underscore that protesters had no interest in civil demonstrations. Threats and acts of intimidation toward Jewish students are appalling. Arrests have been made and charges filed. Penalties should be stiff, though societal permissiveness and affluent parents’ checkbooks are likely to shield student-violators from tough consequences.

But, mind you, mass arrests haven’t happened because students expressed a noxious mix of antisemitism and pro-Hamas sentiments. They acted criminally.

Here’s Abbott’s statement, posted at X, that Walsh reacted to:

“Arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses. These protesters belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.”

Abbott’s declaration swings and misses, unless he meant to grandstand. While condemning students’ antisemitism, he skipped mentioning lawbreaking. Was Abbott playing to the passions of the moment? Was he simply venting his own disgust?

Perhaps Abbott assumed that the public understood? He’d enforce the law and restore order, not deprive anyone of their rights. But when passions run high, clearer language is required.

Protesters don’t belong in jail for repugnant speech. But when speech crosses a line – threatening violence toward persons – protections are forfeited. Real violence – harming persons, property destruction, and/or causing mayhem – are felonies. There are also misdemeanor infractions like trespassing. Columbia University failed to deal swiftly with lawbreakers. The consequence was to embolden lawbreaking on campus.

Under Ron DeSantis’ leadership, the University of Florida laid down clear ground rules for protests. The university issued a statement defining boundaries.

The Citizen Free Press posted the university’s statement at its X account. The statement listed dos and don’ts for protesters. It made clear that lawbreaking and/or failure to comply with the institution’s rules would result in penalties. Under the header, “Consequences for Noncompliance,” the statement read that “[i]ndividuals found responsible for engaging in prohibited activities shall be trespassed from the campus. Students will receive a three year trespass and suspension. Employees will be trespassed and separated from employment.” Florida State troopers and campus police haven’t hesitated cracking down on violators.

The University of Florida’s directive addressed acceptable and prohibited behavior. It didn’t address cause for protest. Not that leaders should remain mum in the face of vitriol directed at Jews or others. There’s a moral imperative to speak up. But upholding the law is a governor’s chief obligation.

Should college students be expelled for joining hate-filled protests on campuses, as Abbott recommends? Should peaceful antisemitic crowds be disperse for hate speech? What is “hate speech?” Who makes the determination?

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What does Easter have to do with our rights?

By J. Robert Smith

March 28, 2024
2-min read

Christians know the pivotal importance of Easter. Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for our sins to bring about God’s reconciliation with man. Repentance of sin was made possible through the Almighty opening the door to His forgiveness. Christ’s resurrection was proof of His divinity. His sacrifice and ascension accomplished His mission.

But I’ll suggest that Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection not only restored our full humanity in God’s eyes, but was meant to lift us out of thousands of years of human bondage – that’s bondage to others with the power to hold fellows captive in some way. We were no longer to be chattel. Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection broke the chains forever, spiritually and in this world.

Our human rights – our natural rights – were granted by God and God alone. We are free-willed by nature. Our rights didn’t derive from governments and weren’t subject to the desires of kings, queens, emperors, or modern dictators. We were created and meant to be free to strive to be our best selves; free to produce; free to express – free from the whims of potentates and, today, in America and across the globe, from establishment elites, who in their arrogance believe that their affluence and stations entitle them to not only order our lives, but decide our lives’ worth.

Elites are no way entitled. The 2,000-plus years of history since Christ’s death and resurrection have been a struggle by our ancestors — and now us — to throw off shackles. We’re to live completely in the sunshine of God’s grace. We’re to live as decent, civilized people, respectful of others while seeking ordered, fruitful lives.

Too many American elites now are electing to challenge God… to not just question our birthright, but to steal our rights from us. They’re turning their backs on our founding. As John Adams said, “Our Constitution was only made for a “moral and religious people.” For only under God, in accordance with His laws, do we fully achieve our liberty as human beings, both in our earthly and spiritual lives.

It does us well to reread our Declaration of Independence, which unambiguously states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Declaration’s words weren’t chosen for effect. They boldly declared that our liberty was given to us by God and wasn’t subject to the narrow interests of any tyrant. Those words aren’t any less true today. They remain consistent with Jesus Christ’s gift of liberation two millennia ago.

Happy Easter.

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End of the Road for Free Speech?

By Rob Meyne

Nov. 8, 2023
1-min read

It has been learned that the FCC will vote, next week, to give itself control over the internet. That’s right. Complete control of the internet. If this is allowed to stand, it could well be the end of all free speech in this country.

Everything we do, read, learn, and believe comes to us through the internet, or is connected with it at some point. NO governmental agency has the authority to, or justification for, controlling the internet.

It is instructive that the Biden administration has tried to keep a lid on this. They know it is bad policy, they know it is probably unconstitutional, and they know they are pursuing governmental control of the internet so they can censor you.

Don’t let them do it.

See the full proposed rule below (PDF download):

FCC FACT SHEET* — Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet

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Why I Returned to Twitter

By J Robert Smith

Dec. 14, 2022
3 min read

In January of 2021, when Twitter brass suspended Donald Trump’s very popular and powerful account, it was the last straw for me.

I’d been on Twitter since the autumn of 2013, as I recall. By July 2020, with a lot of sweat equity, I’d built my account to nearly 16,000 followers. I was adding an estimated 100-200 followers daily during that tumultuous summer. The riots and general lawlessness that Democrats were permitting in the cities they ran were fueling my following. Then there was the contentious presidential race. With frequent posts about the Trump-Biden dustup, my profile was rising and reach spreading. A conservative surging in popularity was always a red flag among Twitter’s woke monitors.

Then, suddenly, my new followers slowed to a trickle. Some days, nothing. Then over the course of the next few weeks, my existing following started to dwindle. I went to a Germany-based platform that determines if your Twitter account is being “shadow-banned,” among other surreptitious means of muzzling ~~members~~ conservatives. My account was being shadow-banned.

Went the reports, Twitter was allegedly purging “bots,” phony accounts. By November 2020, as I recollect, I’d lost about 4,000 followers. Sure, bots have been and are a problem at Twitter. They inflate Twitter’s aggregate count. Twitter’s member volume helps sell advertising and ups pricing.

But purging bots in the middle of a hotly contested election season? Elon Musk questioned Twitter’s price tag in negotiations because, he contended, the platform’s value was inflated by Twitter execs allowing bots to increase its value. Seems a little too coincidently, doesn’t it?

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Media Bias Threatens Our Republic

By Rob Meyne

April 12, 2022
3-min read

There are countless times, in any given day, you are likely to hear references to “two Americas.” Depending on the speaker, issue, and occasion, one person may not even be picturing the same two Americas as another.

Americans get their information from different sources and in ways that didn’t exist not that long ago. Whatever you presume to be a “fact” depends on where you get news, who you trust, and what they believe.

People also believe something a friend or family member tells them more easily than information from another source. Whether it is true has nothing to do with it. Countless Americans think Donald Trump said, “Nazis and white supremacists are fine people” or that a new bill in Florida prohibits people from saying the word “gay,” or that Republican-sponsored state laws restrict voting rights of black Americans. None of these three beliefs is true. But people have heard it and assume it is true.

The digital age has increased the amount of information we can access, but its reliability isn’t what it once was. Most people don’t have the time, interest, or expertise to check key facts in every story they come across. It is understandable. People are busy.

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“Fakebook” is Determined to
Destroy Free Speech

By Rob Meyne

Nov. 27, 2021
3-min read

We recently heard a story of a Chinese national who was discussing the news media. She said most Chinese people are surprised at how many Americans continue to pay attention to the mainstream media.

She said nearly all Chinese (clearly an opinion, not necessarily provable) simply don’t pay attention to their media. They understand it is all useless and biased information, controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

Of course, they are right. All Chinese media, as well as corporations and local governments, are controlled by the CCP. Nothing of significance happens in China that isn’t approved of, or directed by, the Party.

As she observed, mainstream American media also effectively follow the “Party line.” It is barely more objective than Chinese media. The exact method by which the American media is controlled differs from China, but the effect does not. It is difficult, bordering on impossible, for reporters or editors in the U. S. today to report news, or express opinion, that differs from the narratives promoted by leftists, Democratic leaders, and corporate media.

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Facebook and Other Social Media Want Governmental Control, Censorship, and Power

By Rob Meyne

Oct. 28, 2021
2-min read

Those who value our freedoms, above other political priorities, generally consider speech as the most important of them all. There is good reason for this.

People who are well-informed, open to different points of view, and even exposed to statements that are at times controversial, tend to make good decisions. Many of our founders expressed faith in the people to make choices that keep the country strong, free, and successful, provided they have access to information and can participate in a free and robust debate.

You don’t hear much from Pelosi and Schumer, for example, celebrating free, open discussions. To the contrary. Pelosi criticized the media last week for not gong more to sell and promote the Democratic agenda. Most observers know most of the media is in the tank for leftists, but most Dem leaders aren’t usually bold enough to openly admit it.

We are now witnessing a coordinated attempt by social media, legacy media, and Democratic leaders to set up national censorship and control of social media. More people get their news today from social media than any other source (God help us). The White House has already bragged that they work directly with social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook/Fakebook, You Tube – to censor posts by private individuals and groups.

The supposed “whistleblower” from Facebook is at the center of the effort.

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