{Extra} Free Speech Under Attack-Again

What is going on? My family watches FOX news most evenings so when I went home this weekend, I sat sort of half listening to the nightly news. It didn't take long before Tucker Carlson was discussing the case involving Josh Denny, a comedian who has recently been 'canceled.' Apparently, earlier this month the comedian was scheduled to perform up north when Antifa became involved causing the entire show to be cancelled. Threatening violence, the radical group even threatened the chief of police unless Denny's shows were cancelled. Instead of protecting the freedom of expre
ssion, the chief of police decided to submit to the threats and express to the public that it was due to a safety issue. Mayor Nunziato of Rutherford, New Jersey took full credit for the cancellation stating, "an event was planned for this evening at the Williams Center, news of which quickly circulated through social media. Online intelligence led the police department to believe that the event had the potential for concentrate confrontation. Therefore," Nunziato said, "after discussions with the owner, the event has been canceled." (Fox News, 2022) 

The interesting thing is that the person whose rights were trampled on wasn't Antifa, the police chief, or the mayor but instead was the comedian doing his job. Because violence was threatened and because the leaders who are supposed to ensure Constitutional rights caved to the bullies, it was Josh Denny who was the victim in all this. Our nation consists of people from all walks of life, with differing opinions and ideas. Isn't that what makes our nation so great; the opportunity and freedom to express a varying degree of ideas? Since when do we negotiate with radical groups or silence someone because we don't like their message? 

Apparently, this is done all the time. Thinking back about recent lectures that discussed Abraham Lincoln's sedition act and the Quartet of cases, these were all incidents of stopping speech. Whether that was speech against a presidency or speech against war, stopping the speech of a comedian or even speech by you and me is becoming commonplace. 

One question I have is, how has the opinions/ideas of the minority become the dominating rule for the masses? I'm sure I could word that a little better but what I mean is, how can a group like Antifa have such control over the rest of us? Is our leadership that weak that we have become a confused nation that caves when threatened or is it maybe something larger at play? I certainly don't have the answer but I am definitely becoming more 'aware.' As a twenty year old, it is so easy to just believe what you hear on the news or on a social media channel because it is easy and quite frankly, our perspectives and understanding on these issues are limited. It takes effort to search out the deeper implications and meanings of things going on around us. Is the America I know changing into something different and in twenty years will our nation be completely unrecognizable? 

A few years back (2018) Pew Research did a study on, The Public, the Political System and American Democracy.  This study looked at how American's views on certain aspects like rights and freedoms, how freedom to protest is protected, and are the rights and freedoms of people respected. The biggest takeaway was that, "the perceived shortcomings encompass some of the core elements of American democracy. An overwhelming share of the public (84%) says it is very important that “the rights and freedoms of all people are respected.” Yet just 47% say this describes the country very or somewhat well; slightly more (53%) say it does not." (Pew, 2018)

One specific focus looked at American's belief on whether democracy was working. If you look at the below chart, it shows that 61% of the majority think that significant changes are needed in our government.  A surprising finding was that, "when asked to compare the U.S. political system with those of other developed nations, fewer than half rate it above average or best in the world.”(Pew, 2018) That suggests to me that significant change is needed because there is something quite broken. When a comedian is silenced, when a radical group is allowed to dictate their threats to the leaders who are supposed to protect our freedoms, then something is inherently wrong.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/04/26/the-public-the-political-system-and-american-democracy/overview_5-3/