This just came up in my last post.
Why are people so confused about our basic freedoms?
This is not the normal trope about how only 2% of the population knows that New Mexico is the capital of Iran... this is about how people miss the point.
When the Dixie Chicks expressed their embarrassment at being from the same state as George W. Bush, people protested by not going to their shows. We heard that the Dixie Chicks were being denied their rights to free speech. They absolutely were not. The government never stopped the Dixie Chicks from saying anything. I never heard of the government being involved at all. The Dixie Chicks spoke, and other people spoke "louder". No first amendment involved at all.
Why is this so hard?
Why are people so confused about our basic freedoms?
This is not the normal trope about how only 2% of the population knows that New Mexico is the capital of Iran... this is about how people miss the point.
When the Dixie Chicks expressed their embarrassment at being from the same state as George W. Bush, people protested by not going to their shows. We heard that the Dixie Chicks were being denied their rights to free speech. They absolutely were not. The government never stopped the Dixie Chicks from saying anything. I never heard of the government being involved at all. The Dixie Chicks spoke, and other people spoke "louder". No first amendment involved at all.
Why is this so hard?
3 comments:
Amen, a-mother-fucking-men. Ditto for the recent stupid controversy -- the Miss California who expressed an unpopular opinion in a public forum. I saw her whining on the teevee that "This should never happen in America." WTF? You tackled one of the most polarizing issues (poorly) and now you're surprised and upset that half the country hates you?
Look, it's not censorship when people don't like you and take private legal action to express their disapproval.
I wish people understood that.
(Truth be told, though, it was an odd question for a beauty pageant. They don't ask questions about abortion, right? Kinda sucks to be the contestant to step on that land mine...)
True.
But is there something to be said for the Bill of Rights representing American values? Do we as Americans value Due Process because it leads to justice, and as such want it to apply even where the 14th Amendment does not? Likewise, do we value security in your person such that we don't want employers to make us submit to searches without cause?
Attacking the person who provides the contrary point of view, attacking their livelihood so as to make others afraid to express that point of view seems unAmerican. Even if it is not unConstitutional.
I agree, Jim. The American ideal matters regardless of law. Perhaps I should be thankful for people who scream about their rights to free speech even when the government is not involved.
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