The most vital issue today is one which most of the media steadfastly refuses to give credence to.
The extraordinary and unprecedented rise in censorship of free speech, and the growing level of attacks, using either violence, economic pressure, or lawsuit harassment for exercising free speech is a reality that threatens the most basic right Americans enjoy.
Protecting the First Amendment is increasingly portrayed as a partisan issue. There can be little doubt that those mounting attacks are from the Left, and their victims are primarily on the center and the right of the political spectrum. Progressives cast any opinion differing from their opinions as “dangerous.” There are even attempts to brand opposition voices as “domestic terrorists.”
It is not just Antifa-type radicals that are the perpetrators. Just two examples: Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) has previously introduced legislation to limit the application of the First Amendment. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has stated she is acquiring a list of Trump supporters for purposes of undisclosed retribution. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) encouraged violence against Trump personnel.
Complicating the dilemma is the role of key elements of the private sector, including internet giants Facebook and Twitter, in practicing censorship. The same can be said for Hollywood, which vehemently blacklists entertainers who refuse to follow Progressive dictates. Recently, the Babylon Bee noted: “Big Tech censorship is not a myth or right-wing talking point. It’s always been real, and it’s always been a threat. It is not hyperbole when we say this is a big deal. It’s huge. We are heading in a bad direction, and we’re heading there at lightning speed.”
The current vehemence of the Progressive anti-First Amendment push gained its strength from the environment on universities across the nation.
A recent survey UW-Madison survey finds majority support among students for cracking down on offensive speech. That new survey shows that 63 percent of students on campus believe the government should be able to punish “hate speech.”
The College Fix reports:
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“Offensive speech” in this context doesn’t necessarily include violence, which Progressive groups such as Antifa employ, or racist comments. It is, instead, essentially anything that the Left disagrees with.
Not content with attacking those who take positions the Left disagrees with, those who refuse too affirmatively endorse Progressive mantras are also victimized. One example: the College Fix found that students who refuse to join in Leftists seeking to condemn those sporting the “blue line” pro-police symbol are being vilified and penalized.
The totalitarian environment that began in academia has now become the norm in the larger society. More than mere words, direct governmental and economic punishment is being urged against those who question Leftist orthodoxy. Businesses that advertise or provide donations to centrist or conservative candidates or causes are subjected to being thrown off advertising venues, or having boycotts levied against them. Performers who refuse to kowtow to Hollywood’s China-inspired Leftist policies are thrown into unemployment. Elected officials who oppose Progressive policies or question Leftist leaders have seen their book deals and campaign fundraisers cancelled.
The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal recently reported that “Margaret Sullivan, the [Washington] Post’s media columnist, wrote that ‘corporations that advertise on Fox News should walk away’ …Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times called for ‘pressure on advertisers to withdraw from Fox News so long as it functions as an extremist madrasa.’ He added that ‘cable providers should be asked why they distribute channels that peddle lies.’ A CNN writer asserted that providers like Comcast ‘have escaped scrutiny and entirely dodged this conversation.’ By conversation he means political bullying from the left… Thomas Friedman in the Times also called for a business boycott of some Fox News shows and announced that Facebook needs to ‘surprise us by once and for all stopping the elevation—for profit—of news that divides and enrages over more authoritative, evenhanded news sources.”
Frighteningly, the goal the Left is pursuing is not just the silencing of opposition voices, but bankrupting them and subjecting them to criminal prosecution as well. The growing Progressive tactic labelling centrist and conservative voices as “domestic terrorists” is a page right out of Josef Stalin’s playbook. Indeed, some Leftist have openly called for “deprogramming” and “re-educating” those they disagree with.
The Media Research Center’s Brent Bozell notes: “This is the nightmare many conservatives have warned about and have been outright dismissed by the media as alarmists and conspiracy theorists…Left-wing, hyper-partisan media outlets like CNN will be labeled as nonpartisan, factual news while conservative media will be censored into oblivion. This is not a reduction of political content, this is a purge of an entire ideology from the online forum.”
Illustration: Pixabay