Freedom of Speech . . . as Long as Your Speech is White House Approved

Oh, dear. Thomas Paine would be so unhappy with the turn of events in our nation this week. Thomas Paine, as most of you know well, was the author of Common Sense, the little pamphlet that for the first time publicly condemned King George III of England. Paine's work mobilized Colonial public opinion and paved the way for Jefferson to declare our independence just a few months later. Our freedom to express our political opinions has always been of paramount importance, to the extent that the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly stood by its characterization of First Amendment rights as enjoying a "preferred position" in Constitutional interpretations. In fact, the Court has ruled that burning the American flag as an expression of political speech is protected by the 1st Amendment(Texas v. Johnson 1989), and "virtual" child pornography likewise enjoys 1st Amendment protection (Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition 2002). These sickening decisions seem more to protect the unpatriotic and perverse side of our culture rather than a right to disagree with the government.



Where are all of those civil libertarians these days as the White House ominously solicits the names of those who disagree with the President's socialized medicine? When I taught at a different college, one of my colleagues routinely made jokes about assassinating President Bush. He was just "expressing his opinion." Wonder how he feels today as the White House characterizes those who are exercising their First Amendment rights in the manner they were conceived? These individuals who show up at "town hall" meetings voicing their discontent are labeled "mobs."



This double standard is appalling, and what is more so is that we are standing still for it. We cannot count on those Napoleon labeled the "Fourth Estate" (the Press) to reveal these inconsistencies. If we do not take a stand for our rights, they will mean nothing in the face of this onslaught as we slowly move toward those same conditions we have seen taking place in Iran these last months, the complete suppression of freedom of expression against the government.