1st Amendment

This is the craziest thing that I have written in a long time.  Glen Beck is correct.  We must protect the 1^st amendment at all costs. I never agree with Glen; I find the majority of his positions to be reactionary hog wash, but in this case he is right on target until he attacks progressives for booing Nancy Pelosi on her stance in regards to Snowden and his release of classified documents.

At that point in his discourse, he goes on to attack progressive’s rights to free speech and states their rights should be curtailed because they are threat to his and his fellow conservatives’ right to say any and everything. He ruins a great idea in the last minute of his speech. The funny thing is that he or his minions seem to have no idea about the irony of the final statement or his hangers-on don’t have the balls to tell Glen what just happened to his argument.

Glen also refuses to acknowledge the efforts the right has taken to silence any and all who refuse to believe as they do. Look at what Rick Perry said about Wendy Davis and abortion as he tries to silence his detractors. I started watching Glen’s rant because he was defending Paula Deen and later Bill Maher. Both have been fired from high profile jobs for positions and statements they have made that many found offensive.

Within this rant, Glen makes another error in his assessment that neither aforementioned person should be fired for alleged or real comments made based on the 1^st Amendment. This could not be farther from the truth. I am no constitutional scholar, but I know that if your actions are deemed a detriment to a company, then, they can fire you. Guess what Glen that is what happened in both cases. 

Whether either or both of these people were fired for what they said is completely reasonable and actionable and has nothing to do with the 1^st Amendment. Companies get to create their own reasonable expectations concerning their employees’ employment.

I wonder how Glen would react if one of his employees exercising his free speech came out and attacked Glen and his belief system and revealed internal documents concerning Glen’s show. Would he fire said employee or take the high ground and say that all is good because of the 1^st Amendment. Don’t believe so.

Be that as it may be. Glen gets to say and believe whatever he wants.  It matters not what I think or anyone else thinks. He is protected under the 1^st Amendment. However, not all speech is covered under the 1^st Amendment. One example would be slander, another would be screaming fire in a theater when none exists.  Moreover, you may not threaten the president or other government officials without negative consequences, but you can attack people and say mean, nasty things to your heart’s content. Think about Westboro Baptist Church and their shenanigans.

Freedom of speech and the press and religion is a must for our country to thrive. Also, lively political discourse is a must. There must be two sides to our political battles. It is these differences of opinion that set us apart from other countries. Democracy is a messy business, and as I travel in the UK, I have seen and read about the political drama taking place here. Democracy is the great equalizer.

I am glad Glen is on the air. We need to hear all voices on all sides of the argument no matter how extreme. Glen is right when he is talking about the negative consequences of muting voices we find offensive. He is offensive though not the most on the right. As Glen would say, being offensive is our God Given Right. Ask Michael Savage or Howard Stern about freedom of speech.

This is America, everyone gets a chance to puke up any vile disgusting statement they please. Our founding fathers would be so proud of how far we have come to be inclusive. John Adams may not be so accepting based on his use of the Sedition Act during his presidency. Oh the irony.