The First Amendment and Conservatives

A few times a year I become aware that to the left in America free speech is only guarenteed for people on the left.

We remember that wailing and gnashing of teeth when the Dixie Chicks made their proclamations and were critizised. Sean Penn charged Hollywood with blacklisting because he lost a movie role, and one can only assume it was because of his outspoken political beliefs. Many people in all walks of life believe they should be able to say anything and have no backlash from it.

The latest incident that has caught my eye is talk show host Dennis Prager. He made the case in a Townhall.com column last week that newly elected represenatative Keith Ellison should not use the Koran to swear in to Congress. Mr. Prager did not make the case he should not be allowed to, only that he should not. I would like to point out that I disagree with Mr. Prager very strongly, but I have disdain for distortions of views. I would want Congressman-elect Ellison to swear on whatever book he sees as holy. We have seen continually that the book that is used is no guarantee that the person will uphold his oath.

Since then he has been on numerous talk shows, has been villifed in print, and at least one group has called for him to be withdrawn from a holocaust organization he serves on. Now, like the people on the left he will have to deal with whatever fallout comes with controversial views, but I wonder why to some on the political left it is a disaster when some air-headed singers have views and suffer from them, but when a well known Conservative expresses unpopular views, anything is fair game. A simular situation happened last year with Bill Bennett when he was selectively quoted about a racial issue. Yet another example a few years back Rush Limbaugh lost his gig on ESPN for comments made about the media and Donavon McNabb. I also disagreed with his point, (McNabb was very good to my fantasy team this year before he got hurt). He lost his job, but did not sue anyone, and no civil liberties groups decried the lack of free speech in the circumstance.

We must be able to disagree. We must be able to say I disagree with your view, but that doesn't mean you have no right to exist. This is the building block of our country. What other country can you have profound disagreements and discuss them freely in the public forum. Certainly not Canada or Europe where hate speech laws have all but eradicated political speech. Certainly not in the Middle East where honor killings and ceremonial beheadings are the order of the day.

If we cannot learn to disagree without tearing each other up, the grand experiment of America will no longer exist as we know it.