Friday, March 29, 2024

Tyrants censor our free speech; extremists on both left and right

Posted

When conservative speakers, even those considered "far right" are forbidden to speak or shouted down on college campuses, it is censorship.

What ideas are the blooming minds on campus afraid to hear and why have they forgotten the concept of free speech?

When President Trump throws a blanket over news media and calls it "fake news" he is in the same boat. That boat of censorship will sink democracy and thus the United States of America.

Free speech seems to be only free if one agrees with it, but those exact words morph into vile, blasphemous utterings if one disagrees with the same message.

America has been blessed since its founding by the First Amendment to the Constitution of which I condense here: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press ..."

We have groups on both extreme sides of the political spectrum that would gladly kill the free speech of their sworn enemies while at the same time enhance their own bully pulpit any way they can.

I have collected some quotes here in my meager efforts to mollify our mutual hate for one another and advance an agenda of mutual respect, however difficult a task that may be. Free speech and a free press go hand in hand, except that people can verbalize liable speech, whereas newspapers can be sued for printing the same. Other than that, they are synonymous. The quotes come from a collection put out by the Freedom

Forum in 2002:
• "To say what you think will certainly damage you in society; but a free tongue is worth more than a thousand invitations." Logan Pearsall Smith, c1930.
• Censorship is like a poison gas - a powerful weapon that can harm you when the wind shifts." - Pamela Katz, 1997.
• "How is the world ruled and led to war? Diplomats lie to journalists and believe those lies when they see them in print." - Karl Kraus, 1918.
• "When information which properly belongs to the public is systematically withheld by those in power, the people soon become ignorant of their own affairs, distrustful of those who manage them and - eventually - incapable of determining their own destinies." - Richard Nixon, 1972
• "The truth shall make you free." - John 8:32
• "Reading about one's failings in the daily newspapers is one of the privileges of high office in a free country." - Nelson Rockefeller, 1972
• "A free press is not a privilege, but an organic necessity in a great society." - Walter Lippmann, 1965
• "It ought not to be permitted to speak well of politicians without an equal liberty of speaking ill." - James Mill, 1821
• "Only a fool expects the authorities to tell him what the news is." - Russell Baker, 1989
• "We are moving from a right-to-know to a need-to-know society." - Gary Bass, 2002
• "I speak by right and not by permission." - Millard Fillmore, 1840
• "The more government becomes secret, the less it becomes free." - James Russell Wiggins, 1956
• "But words are things and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think." - Lord Byron, 1819
• "The press's ability to pursue the truth and publish what we feel is appropriate will always be called into question by those who would prefer to operate in a less open society." - Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr., 2001
• "Let the people know the facts and the country will be safe." - Abraham Lincoln, 1861
• "Remember that this precious Constitution has been earned for you by your fathers ... to them it was the fruit of toil and danger - to you it is a gift." - Arthur Stansbury, 1828
• "A free press is the organ through which democracy breathes." - George F. Booth, 1943
• "None of the means of information are more sacred, or have been cherished with more tenderness and care by the settlers of America than the press." - John Adams, 1765
• "The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with." - Eleanore Holmes Norton, 1970
• "A function of free speech ... is to invite dispute. It may indeed serve its high purpose when it induces ... unrest ... dissatisfaction or even stirs people to anger." - William O. Douglas, 1969
• "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all." - Noam Chomsky, 1992

Since I respect the intelligence of those who read this column, I have not elaborated on what role in society some of the above quoted people have held, but expect a Google search using name and year should suffice to enlighten the curious.

Those without Google are most likely able to use an encyclopedia for the same purposes.

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