There has been a lot of talk about free speech. Since the Supreme Court decided that burning the flag, panhandling, disrespecting the country, demonstrations by White Supremacists, are all covered by the First Amendment right to free speech. This could also include walking around naked, saying whatever we want to our bosses and about our current and past presidents. A tenured professor born in America came out with disgraceful comments about Barbara Bush after her passing. Her free speech will result in the school finding a way to fire her.
The misunderstanding is now that almost everything can be called free speech and can not have any consequences. If we tell our boss what we really think of him using insults that reflect our thoughts and opinion, there will be consequences. If we walk around naked, something I avoid doing, we can be cited for indecent exposure. If an athlete shows disrespect for our country and its symbols, like the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem, there will be consequences as a washed out S.F. 49er has learned. He was released and no other team would hire him. Still, Amnesty International honored him for his unforgivable behavior. The fans turned against him and his followers meaning that their services could be no longer needed. The 49're tried to blame the exercise of his first amendment right for not being hired by any team and tried to file a lawsuit against the NFL and all of its teams.
Entertainment celebrities use their free speech to say whatever they want about our current President including using foul language and even saying that they want him dead. The consequence is that many viewers are turning off these celebrities and their shows, like SNL
The mainstream media is surely protected by the First Amendment. News sources like the N.Y. Times, the Washington Post, Huffington Post, CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC are so biased it is almost laughable. They have exercised their Free Speech to write whatever they can that's negative and omitting everything that is favorable about the current administration. Once again, there are consequences. People fast forward all the inaccurate and biased reports leaving little to watch on the news. People are also dropping papers like the N.Y. Times and the Washington Post. It makes viewers and readers question the accuracy of other reports as well. If they can misrepresent one kind of story, what else is untrustworthy? CNN ratings are at their lowest and getting worse because their bias is showing.
Even our college campuses are reacting against different forms of free speech. At U.C. Berkeley, the leaders of the free speech movement, would not permit two conservative speakers. Students had to go to a safe space to get over the reaction to the fact that some people have different opinions. On a few campuses professors who express themselves in disagreement with the loss of free speech are forced to resign. It seems as though the students feel that political correctness trumps free speech.
Mobs exercised their free speech to riot and destroy property for four months under the mistaken impression that their victim/hero was unarmed with hands raised, when he was actually killed trying to kill a police officer. Free speech does not protect acts of violence, but does protect ignorance, apparently.
Now, I am exercising my First Amendment right and saying what I see and believe. This blog does not have speech from the Far Left or the Far Right. I do not use or endorse the use of foul language and am repelled by the false labeling of people we disagree with. It's another way of silencing dissent.
I worry that college students are not learning to think well enough to realize that there are usually at least two sides to every idea and belief. I find it helps to hear both sides of a disagreement but it involves thinking not just following the herd.
I'd like to see an end to unproductive protest marches and more expression to our elected officials and policy makers, to the media and to your public on Facebook, et al.
The misunderstanding is now that almost everything can be called free speech and can not have any consequences. If we tell our boss what we really think of him using insults that reflect our thoughts and opinion, there will be consequences. If we walk around naked, something I avoid doing, we can be cited for indecent exposure. If an athlete shows disrespect for our country and its symbols, like the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem, there will be consequences as a washed out S.F. 49er has learned. He was released and no other team would hire him. Still, Amnesty International honored him for his unforgivable behavior. The fans turned against him and his followers meaning that their services could be no longer needed. The 49're tried to blame the exercise of his first amendment right for not being hired by any team and tried to file a lawsuit against the NFL and all of its teams.
Entertainment celebrities use their free speech to say whatever they want about our current President including using foul language and even saying that they want him dead. The consequence is that many viewers are turning off these celebrities and their shows, like SNL
The mainstream media is surely protected by the First Amendment. News sources like the N.Y. Times, the Washington Post, Huffington Post, CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC are so biased it is almost laughable. They have exercised their Free Speech to write whatever they can that's negative and omitting everything that is favorable about the current administration. Once again, there are consequences. People fast forward all the inaccurate and biased reports leaving little to watch on the news. People are also dropping papers like the N.Y. Times and the Washington Post. It makes viewers and readers question the accuracy of other reports as well. If they can misrepresent one kind of story, what else is untrustworthy? CNN ratings are at their lowest and getting worse because their bias is showing.
Even our college campuses are reacting against different forms of free speech. At U.C. Berkeley, the leaders of the free speech movement, would not permit two conservative speakers. Students had to go to a safe space to get over the reaction to the fact that some people have different opinions. On a few campuses professors who express themselves in disagreement with the loss of free speech are forced to resign. It seems as though the students feel that political correctness trumps free speech.
Mobs exercised their free speech to riot and destroy property for four months under the mistaken impression that their victim/hero was unarmed with hands raised, when he was actually killed trying to kill a police officer. Free speech does not protect acts of violence, but does protect ignorance, apparently.
Now, I am exercising my First Amendment right and saying what I see and believe. This blog does not have speech from the Far Left or the Far Right. I do not use or endorse the use of foul language and am repelled by the false labeling of people we disagree with. It's another way of silencing dissent.
I worry that college students are not learning to think well enough to realize that there are usually at least two sides to every idea and belief. I find it helps to hear both sides of a disagreement but it involves thinking not just following the herd.
I'd like to see an end to unproductive protest marches and more expression to our elected officials and policy makers, to the media and to your public on Facebook, et al.
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