The High Price of Free Speech

Tuesday night I went to Capital City Bar and Grill to watch the film “Shouting Fire: Stories from edge of free speech.”

It was a good film. It taught me to open my eyes, clench my fists, and shut my mouth. There were numerous incidents where free speech was used to make the public render a verdict at election polls. There were more incidents where free speech got people into trouble.

After the 9/11/2001 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, freedom of the press was used to vilify, condemn, or persecute anyone who pointed out the reasons for the attack, anyone remotely associated with Islam and anyone who dared question the validity of the War in Iraq.

The film discussed the USA Patriot Act and demonstrated how free speech is being used as a tool against the public.

It was suggested that the goal of the ACLU is to defend any speech no matter how offensive. Free speech should be defended as long as it’s truthful. Deliberately deceptive speech on the other hand should be criminalized.

The McCarthy hearings were a small part of the film. I got an overall impression that Senator Joseph McCarthy’s mistake was using free speech to bring his concerns to the court of public opinion. He and J. Edgar Hoover both believed they could bring the public to their side with their ideas.

Speech has a funny way of working against you while you are in power, no matter the message. The glorious leaders of our society have taken a Machiavellian approach and promoted freedom of speech for the rest of us, while they themselves quietly go about listening and watching for the malcontents.

Theses mistakes have been remedied by government agents quietly infiltrating protest groups.

Peaceful anti-war protesters are regularly blocked from parading, moments after they arrive. Agents who infiltrate protest groups try to provoke the groups into actions that allow police to stop the groups and have members arrested.

Typically the first members of the group to be arrested are the infiltrating provocateurs. Their arrest is handled with such drama, shock and awe, that the arrest is intended to frighten other protesters into disbanding or surrendering.

Without free speech of our enemies we will never know who they are. This has become the mantra of the government. Defenders of free speech are provoking people into exposing themselves as dissidents.

My friends, public speech is no longer effective. Free speech is bait for a trap. We are done with speech. Nobody is paying attention.

Do not fear the clamoring throng, fear the silence.