Free Speech

For John, BLUF:  I worry that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz does not understand Free Speech the way the Founding Fathers did and I do.  Maybe he doesn't understand Democracy.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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THEY BELIEVE THAT RIGHTS AREN’T ABSOLUTE,
BUT POWER IS

From Instapundit, by Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds.

Here is the first social media post in this larger blog post:

Gad Saad
@GadSaad
What we are seeing is precisely why the West was such an anomaly in the history of mankind.  Specifically, the reflex to suppress speech with which the rulers/elite disagree is the default reflex, and we are seeing a return to it.  The West is facing the classic Herculean fork in the road.  Take the easy or hard road in defending free speech.

This post by Professor Saad was in response to this 𝕏 post:

BBC Newsnight
@BBCNewsnight
Aug 9
"[Elon] Musk is trying to pretend freedom of speech as some absolute right.  It's never been an absolute right."  Keir Starmer's biographer Tom Baldwin says there should be more regulation of social media. #Newsnight

This is a fight for the West, for the Anglo-Saxon tradition of free speech and the idea of competing ideas in the search for truth and for a better future.  The problem is, if we squash free speech then we stunt our future.  We end up with hundreds of years of stagnation.

One person laid the issue at the feet of Wokeness:

Robert ₿reedlove
@Breedlove22
Wokeism is a psyop designed to destroy basic definitions to undermine rational discourse and divide people.  When people are unable to use speech to resolve conflicts, then their only alternative is force, and in the domain of force The State is unrivaled.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff