A couple of stories over the last couple of weeks have highlighted the need for a tutorial on the first amendment. I spend a good amount of time when I teach government over what is protected in free speech and what isn't protected. By now, everyone knows about Glenn Beck's comments on Fox and Friends in late July. This post isn't about those comments because they have been hashed and rehashed. However, there has been a lot of interesting fallout for his program directly and the way that people perceive free speech.
In response to the boycotts of Glen Beck's program, one poster said the following, "More crushing of dissent in Obamastan." The title of the thread was "Democrats war on free speech." Before I go off on my rant, I thought I would bring up another case of where free speech has somehow come into question. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey caused a stir when he wrote an op ed piece for the Wall Street Journal about health care. Obviously, considering that progressives are a large percentage of the shoppers at Whole Foods, it wouldn't surprise anyone to hear that there is a significant boycott of that store as well.
Generally speaking, people make two huge mistakes when they talk about free speech. The first mistake was made by my friend up there and by Mackey. Have the Democrats waged a war on free speech? No, they haven't waged any more of a war than the conservatives who organized boycotts of the Dixie Chicks and other entertainers that voiced liberal viewpoints. The first lesson of free speech is that your speech will usually create some sort of a response. Sometimes people agree and sometimes they don't. Having the right to free speech doesn't mean there will be no consequences for saying something stupid. It just means Congress shall make no lawing preventing you from saying it.
This brings us to point number two. I am reminded of the comments by John Rocker more than a decade ago about how much he hated riding the subway in New York. He was suspended by MLB and his career was never the same. Defenders of his comments said his free speech was violated. Remember, it says "Congress shall make no law........". That has nothing to do with your employer. If I say something stupid I should expect my employer to have a conversation with me. That conversation may even be a short one with me handing in my keys.
More than anything, it is high time we understood that free speech is anything but free. Glenn Beck can continue to say things that aren't true and he can continue to stir the pot of racism if he wishes. That behavior has consequences and apparently he's starting to feel them. Clearly, he wasn't sitting in my classroom when I started to talk about slander and libel. That might be the next step for a man who seems allergic to the truth. As for John Mackey, he might learn the lesson by getting his walking papers. A businessman should always remember who is customers are. As for the rest of us, we should keep in mind that we can say what we want. We might not like the response though.
Yeah, I was incensed when the couple was arrested for wearing anti-Bush shirts. Free speech is free speech, and obnoxious shirts and pictures are free speech, especially at a political rally.
Is Glenn Beck broadcast over the air or just on cable/satellite? Cable and satellite aren't the public airwaves to as big a degree as old fashioned TV is. Sadly, Beck, who used to make some sense most of the time, has slid down the same rabid right path as his good friend Pat Gray. Both ahve become impossible to listen to.
I keep telling conservatives to give up on the "loser" social issues, and reduce the stridency or it will be along time before they are back in power. And please, please, please, try not to find a Tom Delay clone this time.
Mistakes are made all the time in regards to free speech because Oliver Wendall Holmes got us on a track of gauging speech's value against any possible harm it may cause. If I have a poster and I know it will incite a riot then my right to carry said poster is null and void. The question comes in how likely a riot is to occur.
The first amendment like the rest of the constitution is a living and breathing thing. I personally wonder how much longer we will let Glenn Beck continue to completely make shit up on television. If we (the people) own the airwaves then isn't there some kind of responsibility to at least say things that could be true. Can I get my own commentary show and then suggest that the health care bill is paying for Martians to have abortions if they are impregnated by members of ACORN? Or, am I limited to the truth? It will be an interesting dilemma as we move on I think.
Then we get stupid cops suppressing free speech like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIKPKjl0-pg
Hmm, public place, no violence, just a sign that's somewhat obnoxious, and a cop decides he knows the law. Personally, I would have refused to put down the sign and let him arrest me. Then, make the only thing I want in my suit against what ever entity he works for would be his termination for stupidity.
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Editors Note: This officer acted inappropriately although the demonstrator was being irresponsibly inflammatory and disrespectful. With free speech comes responsibility. The problem with these protestors is that they are protesting policies that don't exist based on false messaging put out by the GOP and corporate lobbyists. Peddling these myths is irresponsible and un-American and that's what the officer was reacting to, though he was wrong. Of course, you were incensed and spoke out loudly when the couple in WV was ARRESTED for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts on public property, correct? I didn't think so. Let me refresh your memory. http://crooksandliars.com/2007/08/21/wrongly-arrested-bush-protesters-talk-about-their-80k-government-settlement-on-hardball/
Reading comments like I do from the other site baffle me because it's almost as if they are saying they can say whatever they want and we must agree, but we cannot do the same.
The third line on my last post should have read, "mail, and even death threats. But they can also now tell us a thing or TWO about..."
Yes, the Dixie Chicks learned the hard way about freedom of speech and its consequences, i.e., loss of record sales, their music banned by radio stations, hate mail, and even death threats. But they can also now tell us a thing or about vindication, because it has since been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were 100% right about George W. Bush.
I was SO happy to hear them sing on one of their most recent recordings, "I'm not ready to make nice!" Although I had never purchased a single Dixie Chicks CD before they spoke their minds about GWB, I am now a big fan. It just shows to go ya that consequences are not ALWAYS a bad thing.
Turtles Run, did you not read the blog post? They can certainly be fired for what they say. The Constitution only says that Congress shall make no law, not that employers cannot terminate employees. If you say something that embarrasses your employer, or that the employer just doesn't like, you can be fired immediately, unless you have a union contract protecting you.
I do agree that you must accept the consequences of your speech if you insist on speaking, just as you must accept the consequences of your actions, or inactions. Blaming others, as Beck does, is simply cowardice.
The unspoken word is your servant, the spoken word is your equal, and the written word is your master.
Too bad words don't mean what they used to to most people these days. The pen is still mightier than the sword, but an a-hole rant on extremist news is obviously mightier than the critical thinking skills of too many people out there.
Free Speech like anything else carries responsibilities ans consequences. We are responsible for our words and the meaning they carry. Beck, Mackey, and the Dixie Chicks have all learned that if you say something then you must take ownership of you words, blaming the critics is not an option. These people have learned that their words have consequences.
Mackey caters to a progressive audience and for him to publically come out against healthcare reform was a monumental mistake. He forgot who his customers were and is now being punished. Whole Foods may want to try to distance themselves from his remarks but the tow are intertwined. Beck knows that his audience loves to hear the red meat he tosses out but his sponsors pay him his salaries. He should have known that somethings are too inflametory and even though they cannot fire him they definately can stop paying him.
Free speech that we like is easy to defend, but the heart of REAL free speech is to defend speech we do not like. Beck and Mackey have the right to say what they want but they do not have the right to be free of criticism. In short if you say something you better dang well stand by it and accept the consequences.