Ted Rall for December 27, 2023

Yep. Life in the real world. But note also that the first three consequences are legal and the next three are not just illegal (well, doxxing may be an edge case) but immoral as well. You may also be libeled, doxxed or assaulted for any other reason… or none at all. Life as it now is. Sadly in many cases.

So freeish speech?

Such is life in our so called “Great Society”. It is too bad Congress is not like it was during the era of “the Great Society” of the mid to late ’60s to 1970 or so where Johnson and Nixon had a supermajority of progressives to work with. Things were actually accomplished back then under LBJ and even with Nixon (the EPA and pro-choice SCOTUS justices nominated and voted in) so that Noam Chomsky has stated numerous times that LBJ and Dick Nixon were the last liberal presidents of America, due to the congress they worked with, not their own personal ideology. America needs to get back to that. Vote progressive, bring our country back from the far right!

The First states CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW….Which means you can say any darn thing that doesn’t violate the one restriction (yelling fire in a crowded theater and related). And I have the freedom to tell you you’re full of it. This cartoon is pretty close to correct.

…or someone privileged like Drumpf, who can say anything he wants

All the examples shown were commonplace when the woke left was in their heyday of cancel culture. Now that they get the same treatment, it’s unacceptable?

The freedom to speak does NOT mean you are free from the consequences of that speech (unless you’re trump). The government can’t prevent you from saying what you will but they aren’t required to protect you from what others do in response to what you say. Unless what they do is illegal.

The original right was to tell the objective truth without fear of reprisal from an authoritarian leader, now it seems to be an attempt to give that protection to gossip, innuendo, suspicions, conspiracy theories, and bald-faced lies — equating them with objective truth.

There have always been limits to Free Speech, Ted. There is a reason Jefferson would often ask other people to author certain letters and articles for him, as his proxy. He also wrote many pueces never intending them to be published in America, or at all.

Have the courage to say what needs to be said. And, sadly, be prepared for the blowback.

So when do we get to see the part where all of the coddled neo-Nazis who are rioting on campus for the extermination of Jews are “fired, or expelled, or blacklisted, or libeled, or doxxed, or assaulted”? It’s sure not happening now. Let alone what they truly deserve, which is nothing more than what they’re advocating for others.

And Ted, it’s even worse in your beloved Russia and in China. However, we’re working on becoming more like them by not discerning between the authoritarian move of the GQP and the not perfect Democratic Party. Here’s to the emotional failure to reasonably think. Petulance, forever!!!

First Amendment

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.

In the U.S. our constitution guarantees there will be no law taking away our right to freedom of speech. Consequences of exercising that right is not banned. It is up to each individual to determine what they wish to say. Being aware and prepared for any consequences that may come of it only expands that Freedom.

Or you could be one of these stupid first amendment auditors and go around cussing people claiming free speech and expecting people to just suck it up and take it and then wonder why you get doxxed or labeled a bad person.

I like the cautionary phrase in the Clash’s Know Your Rights, with the lines… “ Number threeYou have the right to free speechAs long asYou’re not dumb enough to actually try it”

We have laws and regulations, but they do not, and cannot cover all contingencies. There are two other “suggestions” that resonate down the years that are not enforced, but could do much to heal society and move forward: “Do the right thing” and "Do unto others………..

Free Speech has never meant you can say what ever it is that you want. It only means that the government can not censor your speech. We tend to forget that with rights comes responsibilities. You are responsible for what you say.

If one goes about insulting people, ridiculing them, lying about things, then one has to expect very few friends(if any). Sure you have a right to sat what you want, but no one has to put up with it. Jobs and College are voluntary associations, you don’t have to be there. And both places have a responsibility to maintain a non-hostile work environment.

We social animals. When people deviate from the norm, society pushes back.

A Toll will be paid, overplaying ones hand can lead to prison once power changes hands. Just ask the tourists still in jail from walking around the the Capital on 1/6.

The right to free speech means that you have the right to state your opinion without punishment from the government unless your speech meets a very narrow definition of illegal (i.e., yelling “fire” in a crowded theater or inciting a mob to perform an illegal act like lynching or a treasonous rebellion against lawfully elected government officials). Protection from government prosecution of one’s “free speech” does not protect you from the right of other individuals to act on their dislike of your opinions. Family, friends, and neighbors have the right to shun you. Private employers can certainly fire you in your exercise of free speech interferes with your ability to do your job or the organization to reach its goals (i.e., maximizing profits or carrying out a service mission in the case of non-profits). A government employer has a higher standard than a private employer to meet before defining someone’s EXPRESSED personal opinions as a fireable offence, but if you are creating a hostile environment for co-workers and/or customers/clients/patients, etc., you most certainly have earned a reaction from people who have let you know that you’re not interested in hearing whatever you have to say. Of course, these permissible reactions to unwelcome free speech does not include illegal acts like physical violence—but I don’t remember hearing anyone on the left (a.k.a., the “woke”) defending assault and battery as desirable responses to conservative speech.

So public speech can have consequences? Who would have thunk it. I am not for cancelling people, or doxxing them, etc but I also think people should think before they talk. As Lincoln once quipped, better to stay silent and be thought an idiot, than speak and remove all doubt.

Only if you are a Conservative. If you say endorse a genocide or question an election while being a Democrat, you are protected.