George Washington said, “If freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” George had something there, but because we didn’t heed his warnings about political parties, free speech may be leading us toward slaughter, not away.
In 1969, the Supreme Court limited the scope of speech that the government may ban to speech that is likely to incite lawless action, but it doesn’t seem to take much to incite lawless action these days, especially in a country that has more firearms than people and fewer critical thinking skills than day-old roadkill.
Rage rhetoric is all around us. Whether it’s the Freedom Caucus, Fox News, MSNBC or (arrgh) social media, and listeners need the intellectual wherewithal to discern empty, emotional bloviation from a call to arms.
We are in the midst of the most cartoonish presidential election in history, an election that should be funny, not hateful and violent. One candidate is so unfit, only Wile E. Coyote has a lower success rate at his endeavors than the candidate has had at his. The other candidate may or may not need an assisted living facility. With age comes wisdom, but what happens to wisdom if you can’t remember what you had for breakfast?
Free speech is a cherished right, but maybe Americans no longer have that intellectual wherewithal to use this right properly. We should ask Marjorie Taylor Greene or Kid Rock.
Kevin Devine
Durango
