OPINION:
John Kerry, former Secretary of State and green czar for the Barack Obama administration, said during a World Economic Forum on Green Energy discussion that the First Amendment is really proving a stumbling block to getting out the government’s preferred narratives about climate change — implying, of course, that free speech ought to be controlled and curtailed.
Democrats have been doing an awful lot of whining about the perils and dangers of free speech lately. It’s no coincidence it comes as election season heats; Kamala Harris falters; Donald Trump rises; and Elon Musk has made it impossible for the tyrannical left to stifle dissenting views on his social media platform.
It’s the Democrats’ last-ditch, twelfth-hour attempt to win the White House this November.
They can’t do it with principle and platform and policy. They can only do it by lies and deceptions and double-talks — and by shutting down the voices of those who call out their lies and deceptions and double-talks. If only Musk hadn’t purchased Twitter and turned it into X, then Democrats would be A-OK with the First Amendment. They wouldn’t feel the desperate need to talk about dangerous speech, perilous speech, disinformation and misinformation and the societal hazards of letting such go forth for public consumption. They love free speech so long as they can control the speech. Now that Musk has made it impossible for them to control the narratives, they have to talk up the dangers of free speech so as to try and persuade Americans to agree that some speech is in need of controlling — so they then can take the reins of control and censor speech once again. Just like they did during the coronavirus. Just like they did during the last election. Just like they did with January 6 and Russia, Russia, Russia and Hunter Biden laptop and Braindead Joe Biden stories and videos social media posts.
“But look,” Kerry said, in answer to a question about combatting “misinformation” about climate change, Sky News reported, “if people only go to one source, and the source they go to is such and, you know, has an agenda, and they’re putting out disinformation, our First Amendment stands as a major block to be able to just, you know, hammer it out of existence.”
Hammer away, Kerry.
God-given rights to speak freely will outlast the largest hammer job.
This has been an obnoxious train of thought of many Democrats of late, though — that is, to directly plead the case that the First Amendment must be revised.
Hillary Clinton on a couple different occasions — one being just hours after the first assassination attempt of Donald Trump — blamed social media platforms for “amplify[ing] disinformation and extremism with no accountability.” She’s also called Trump “dangerous” and a “danger to our country and the world” and scolded the media ought to have a “consistent narrative” to counter the MAGA man’s politics.
Her logic is government should hold the keys of power to decide what is extreme speech and what is disinformation and what is dangerous, and censor accordingly.
Kamala Harris’s running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, meanwhile, has said, “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy.”
Actually, there is.
Founding Fathers didn’t carve out any exceptions to free speech and to First Amendment freedoms and put government in charge of deciding what is proper versus improper. This is the big lie of the left.
This is how the left makes inroads in stealing God-given liberties and rights from the people.
Democrats first start putting labels on speech — hate speech, discriminatory speech, dangerous speech, and so forth. They then get the public to agree that dangerous speech is, well, dangerous and that vitriolic speech leads to physical acts of violence. They then get the public to agree that while free speech is good, some free speech is dangerous and in need of control. They they set themselves as the only proper authority to decide what constitutes safe speech versus dangerous speech — and move to shut down speech they don’t. Want.
It’s all coming to a head because it’s a) Election time; b) Harris is a crappy candidate and Trump is poised to win; and c) Elon Musk won’t let leftists use his platform to curtail dissenting viewpoints.
Musk is certainly not the savior of American society; of American freedoms.
But the fact he’s throwing a major kink in Democrats’ censorship ways and is a boon for American freedom.
With Musk at the “X” helm, Democrats are forced to make their case for curtailing free speech on open, public stages — and that’s exposing them as the Marxists and tyrants and elitists they are — and that has them in a total state of panic.
Musk is certainly the great disruptor to their dictatorial plans.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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