Free Speech in America - "You're Not Allowed to Say That..."

The assault on free speech in America is becoming extreme and stifling, with governments backing the speech censors to threaten, arrest, or simply "suggest" that people comply with ever more restrictive speech codes. The phenomenon is dangerous, un-American and flagrantly unconstitutional - but it is succeeding in muzzling one of America's traditional freedoms.

In New York City it is now illegal to call someone an "illegal alien" - even if the are an illegal alien. As is saying that you are going to enforce federal immigration law. NYC’s "Human Rights" Commission just fined a woman $17,000 for threatening to call US Immigration.

In New Jersey, the local NAACP branch demanded the arrest of a homeowner who put-up a Halloween "pirate display" featuring one figure in a noose. Although the homeowner obviously meant nothing racist (even in the Bayville Scream Park had pirate nooses until recently) - the NJ State Police asked the homeowner to take down the Halloween decoration, and the state Attorney General is "investigating" possible hate crime charges.

Political speech is not immune: NYC’s Campaign Finance Board fined a man $5,000 for taking out newspaper ads asking people not to vote for a corrupt politician - because he had not "pre-registered” with CFB before daring to speak. Could you imagine how the CFB would have dealt with a chronic newspaper ad offender like Ben Franklin ? No wonder the CFB has been accused of being a corrupt “anti free speech mafia."

And finally, this week, the Anti-Defamation League - once a distinguished Jewish civil rights group, now captured by Obama leftists - issued a "hate symbols" list to "guide" prosecutors. The list of includes such innocuous things as the "OK" hand sign; the expression "100%"; the numbers "12" and "14"; and the "bowl haircut.” Really ? But people will now be prosecuted for such things.

America was founded on a tradition of robust free speech. The right to tell the King, or the government, or any corrupt local goon official, to "go to hell." Without free speech, none of our freedoms mean anything, and we will lose our free thoughts, free exercise of religion, freedom to our privacy, and freedom to defend ourselves. We need to vigorously defend our right to speak freely.