The progressive left has never been a fan of the whole “Freedom of Speech” thing. Oh, they sing it’s praises as long as they are the ones doing the talking, but as soon as anybody else tries to express an opinion they disagree with, it’s all “hate speech”, or not “politically correct”, or the current favorite, “racist.” It’s even worse on what should be bastions of free expression, college campuses. There they have “Speech Codes”, and “Free Speech Zones.” Neither of which seem to apply to anyone who is spouting the far left’s extremist agenda.
What is the difference between fascism and progressive ideology? If you don’t know the answer to this, you can probably blame a public school teacher who identifies as a progressive. Both “are very hostile to individualism, especially in the field of economics.”
“‘Hate speech’ is a made-up term used to justify censorship. It’s an un-American idea, used by anti-American people. It’s a marker for fascism.” — Glenn Reynolds
“I think the notion that we should treat pole dancing like constitutionally protected free speech while we try to ban actual political speech is just one of the loopiest manifestations of our popular confusion over the First Amendment.” — Jonah Goldberg
Both of these statements refer to what I have often said. The progressive left really doesn’t like the concept of Free Speech. They want to make any speech they disagree with illegal. They use Orwell’s 1984 as a training manual, instead of the warning it was meant to be.
I heard some leftist trying to compare Hobby Lobby to Mozilla firing their CEO based on a political donation eight years ago.
There is a major difference that the leftist decided to ignore.
In the case of Hobby Lobby, the owners of the company are making very public statement of their company policies based on their personal religious views.
In the case of Mozilla, the CEO was hounded out of office not for his actions as CEO. He had made no public statement as CEO, or otherwise, about his stand on marriage laws. He was attacked by activists outside the company for a private political donation made eight years ago. A donation that should not have been available to the public. It was known, because of an illegal leak of private IRS data. A leak done to harm those who the leaker, a federal employee, disagreed with politically.
If the federal employee who leaked the information is every identified (and don’t hold your breath waiting for anyone in our Dear Leader‘s administration to pursue that), that person should be subject to criminal prosecution and civil prosecution from individuals harmed by their illegal actions. The former CEO of Mozilla for example.
That is how Ed Driscoll tags it, and he’s probably right.
“In Wetumpka, we are patriotic Americans. We peacefully assemble. We petition our government. We exercise the right to free speech. And we don’t understand why the government tried to stop us.
I’m not here as a serf or a vassal. I’m not begging my lords for mercy. I’m a born free American woman. Wife, mother, and citizen. And I’m telling my government that you’ve forgotten your place. It’s not your responsibility to look out for my wellbeing and to monitor my speech. It’s not your right to assert an agenda. Your post, the post that you occupy, exists to preserve American liberty. You’ve sworn to perform that duty, and you have faltered…
What the government did to our little group in Wetumpka, Alabama is un-American. It isn’t a matter of firing or arresting individuals. The individuals who sought to intimidate us were acting as they thought they should, in a government culture that has little respect for its citizens. Many of the agents and agencies of the federal government do not understand that they are servants of the people. They think they are our masters. And they are mistaken.
I’m not interested in scoring political points. I want to protect and preserve the America that I grew up in. The America that people crossed oceans and risked their lives to become a part of. And I’m terrified it is slipping away.