The First Amendment protects speech. That speech includes lies; lots of lies, damned lies, constant lies, lies perpetrated through commercial media outlets, shouted through megaphones at rallies and on social media. Sectors of our society and geographic regions are poorly educated, chronically suspicious of government and hold historic g…
The First Amendment protects speech. That speech includes lies; lots of lies, damned lies, constant lies, lies perpetrated through commercial media outlets, shouted through megaphones at rallies and on social media. Sectors of our society and geographic regions are poorly educated, chronically suspicious of government and hold historic grudges dating back 160+ years. They are susceptible to lies, damned lies and twisted statistics. When speech turns to action, it no longer has the protection of the first amendment, but there is constitutional protection in the franchise to elect liars. We are only protected by two possibilities; 1) that there are more voters who adhere to truth instead of lies, and 2) That they care enough to show up the polls and reject the liars. Until that day, we can broadcast a different message, but we can't fully drown out the lies.
The first amendment protects speech from government censorship or regulation. Even that is not absolute.
Dahlia Lithwick describes Trumps abuses thus in her very very good book, "Lady Justice": "From accusations about "fake news" and claims about censorship and deplatforming, Trump's great gift lay in recasting First Amendment liberties as weapons to be used against other institutions."(Page 71)
Even better is an observation about certain people who can't be constrained by what are often called "guardrails". I'm not going to quote it (it's on page 92). Lithwick is writing in a related context, not directly about Trump, but she provides another categorization for Trump that rings true as a complement to "narcissist." Another "n" word -haha!
The First Amendment protects speech. That speech includes lies; lots of lies, damned lies, constant lies, lies perpetrated through commercial media outlets, shouted through megaphones at rallies and on social media. Sectors of our society and geographic regions are poorly educated, chronically suspicious of government and hold historic grudges dating back 160+ years. They are susceptible to lies, damned lies and twisted statistics. When speech turns to action, it no longer has the protection of the first amendment, but there is constitutional protection in the franchise to elect liars. We are only protected by two possibilities; 1) that there are more voters who adhere to truth instead of lies, and 2) That they care enough to show up the polls and reject the liars. Until that day, we can broadcast a different message, but we can't fully drown out the lies.
Timing...how long has this lawless thief gotten away with it? He has been
protected, we have not. Is this system serving the people or the crook?
The crook.
The first amendment protects speech from government censorship or regulation. Even that is not absolute.
Dahlia Lithwick describes Trumps abuses thus in her very very good book, "Lady Justice": "From accusations about "fake news" and claims about censorship and deplatforming, Trump's great gift lay in recasting First Amendment liberties as weapons to be used against other institutions."(Page 71)
Even better is an observation about certain people who can't be constrained by what are often called "guardrails". I'm not going to quote it (it's on page 92). Lithwick is writing in a related context, not directly about Trump, but she provides another categorization for Trump that rings true as a complement to "narcissist." Another "n" word -haha!
Strongly recommend "Lady Justice"!!!