The First Amendment now comes with footnotes. Instead of promising not to abridge the freedom of speech, government officials are quietly redlining your opinions like a ruthless book editor holding a grudge.
The erosion of our First Amendment rights should wake you up like a five-alarm fire.
Banned Media. Reporters have been barred from the White House, kicked out of the Pentagon and have lost access to the press secretary’s office. A Washington Post reporter had her house searched by the FBI, relabeling journalists from “democracy watchdogs” to “people of interest.”
The president threatens the media licenses of organizations that don’t paint him in a flattering light. He’s sued networks for billions, ordered shows to be canceled and got Jimmy Kimmel fired. When millions of people canceled Disney and HULU, Kimmel was put back on the air, so I guess free speech can now be bundled with your subscription.
Banned Words. This melting pot we call America has outlawed diversity, equity and inclusion. That’s like taking the heart out of the Tin Man or the soul out of Hozier.
The Head Start early childhood programs were told to remove a list of 200 words in grant applications or the Death Star would blow up their facilities. Words like “belong,” “disability,” and “mental health” will get funding denied, so now applicants have to do an interpretative dance, acting out “equality” or “diverse.”
Government leaders go ballistic if we use pronouns or call a trans person by their chosen name, yet expect the entire country to salute the nonsensical renaming of the Gulf of America or the Trump-Kennedy Center. It costs nothing to respect someone’s pronouns, but rebranding the Department of War will cost taxpayers more than $1 billion.
Banned Books. Having a library card is now an act of defiance. Utah loves a good book ban because nothing prepares kids for real life more than hiding information that makes them feel uncomfortable.
Utah already ranks at the bottom of education funding, but yes, let’s make our kids dumber by discouraging them from learning critical thinking skills or empathy. Reading as exploration is forbidden. Curiosity becomes taboo.
But if kids want to read a book, they’ll find a way to read it. A ban adds extra enticement, like putting chocolate sprinkles on an ice cream sundae. We’re all for letting 18 year olds carry a rifle into McDonald’s, but heaven forbid they read “The Hate U Give,” which talks about a teen affected by gun violence.
Banned criticism. The First Amendment gives us the right to criticize anyone, even the president. You can slap bumper stickers on your VW, write columns or even burn the flag.
However, professors are being fired for political beliefs, protestors are tear-gassed and shot, and university funding is cut unless courses fall in line with this administration’s doctrine. Freedom of speech is now an extreme sport.
Here’s what’s not free speech: incitement, threats, defamation, obscenity and perjury. The president has threatened talk show hosts, slandered Democratic leaders and there’s strong evidence he’s perjured himself several times.
He is also protected under the First Amendment, but the president walks a Sharpie-thin line between free speech and hateful rhetoric. TrumpActionTracker.info documented 264 actions (as of Jan. 16) taken by the president and his administration during the last year to control information or spread propaganda. He’s all for free speech, as long as it’s only his.
History shows that free speech is as durable as steel, with the propensity to outlast those who violate it. The First Amendment doesn’t promise pleasant agreement but a safe space for necessary debate. Freedom of speech is not silent, and we shouldn’t be either.
First published in the City Journals.
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