Free speech…
…doesn’t mean that Ann Coulter or anyone else has a right to speak at UC Berkeley. For the conservative commentator and writer, she’s had ample opportunity to spew her venom publicly around the country. Those who support her (or the Berkeley group who invited her to speak) don’t understand what “free speech” means, constitutionally or in practice.
Free speech always has to be measured against the safety of the general public. Sure, that’s a balancing act, but you can’t yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater when there is none, creating panic. Similarly, Ann Coulter cannot be allowed to endanger innocents in Berkeley. The group backing her, and her followers nationwide, are wrong in making this a free speech issue. As alt-right supporters, they have the right to think and even to say what they believe—I support that, and it’s why the Bill of Rights protect Bill O’Reilly’s rants as much as those of Rachel Maddow. (O’Reilly’s fall from grace was caused by his alleged abusive treatment of women, an entirely different issue.)
This isn’t about political correctness either. Both the extreme left and the extreme right get their hackles up about some of the things their opponents say. Hell, if we enforced PC, our president would be impeached by now and maybe in jail! People say (or tweet) outlandish things all the time. If it doesn’t go beyond that—yelling “Fire!” in a theater, for example—an educated and reasonable person shrugs it off and simply considers the speaker a crazy idiot.
We can look at the polarization in this country and wonder how we came to this. People aren’t civil anymore. They don’t tolerate contrary opinions and react strongly to statements, often in knee-jerk reactions that show emotions dominate reason. We are fast becoming an anarchistic collection of territorial chimpanzee tribes that interact with savage emotions. In brief, we are losing our humanity.
But there are those among us who reason and don’t want to participate in this violent nonsense. They have to be protected from Coulter’s supporters; they also have to be protected from anti-Trump protesters who resort to violence too. Unlike the CIA and the Pentagon, public discourse in this country cannot allow “collateral damage.”
Rights end when allowing them attacks the rights of others. During the Vietnam War, there were many peaceful protests as well as violent ones. Lines of protesters winding across college campuses with people holding hands and heads bowed still made a powerful statement. Marching in front of the White House and giving the finger to President Nixon also made a powerful statement. Violent confrontations, often caused by authorities (Kent State was one of the most egregious), left a lot of damage, both collateral and property-wise.
When I lived in Bogota, Colombia, the M-19 Movement set incendiary bombs in a local theater when were attending the debut of the movie Jaws. In this case, yelling “Fuego!” was justified, but the chaos that ensued showed me why we can’t allow that as “free speech” in general—people were trampled. Public safety always takes precedent over free speech. This is a delicate balance that must be maintained in a democracy. We cannot hinder the free expression of opinions, but we must weigh that against the actions of those who would express them violently, or worse, use that free expression to loot, pillage, or even overly inconvenience others (protesters lying in the NYC’s Lincoln Tunnel to stop traffic at the peak of the evening commute comes to mind)—the latter will turn people against your cause.
Let’s not allow collateral damage in our pursuit and preservation of free speech. Let’s maintain that delicate balance that indicates a mature democracy, not one spinning into anarchy.
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Aristocrats and Assassins. In #4 of the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series,” Castilblanco and his wife are on vacation in Europe when a terrorist starts kidnapping members of European royal families. Castilblanco and eventually Chen work with authorities to discover the terrorist’s agenda. This fast-moving mystery/thriller/suspense novel is on sale now at Smashwords in all ebook formats; use coupon code VN74R.
And look for this new mystery/thriller/suspense story coming this spring from Penmore Press: Rembrandt’s Angel pairs Scotland Yard’s Arts and Antiquities Inspector Esther Brookstone with Interpol Agent Bastiann van Coevorden, as their search for dealers in stolen artwork leads to exposing an international conspiracy. Bastiann first appeared in Aristocrats and Assassins and played a prominent role in Gaia and the Goliaths. Esther made her debut in The Collector. This new team of sleuths discovers that pursuing stolen artwork can become surprisingly dangerous.
And so it goes….
