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April 23, 2006
Upholding Our Freedom of Speech...When Convenient
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
U.S. Constitution - Amendment 1
Although Americans recognize that our freedom of speech is a Constitutionally protected right, we also acknowledge that this freedom has limitations: for example, society doesn't legally permit me to joke about having a bomb while in line at the airport or to use sexual, racial and religious slurs at the workplace. As an American, I accept these practical limitations on my freedom of speech for the sake of preserving the common good. I will not however, tolerate my freedom of speech from being unfairly eroded. Sadly, this is the case with America: while we fight for Democracy abroad, our own citizens are increasingly being restricted from expressing their political views here at home. Worse yet, the rest of us are allowing these restrictions to go unchallenged while those who do speak their minds are harassed, threatened, or punished.
Last month, during a lecture to his highschool geography class, Jay Bennish ranted against capitalism, against American violence abroad and compared President Bush's 2006 State of the Union speech to previous speeches made by Adolf Hitler. Bennish finished his rant by reassuring his students that they needn't agree with him. To those who openly challenged him, he added "I'm glad you asked all of your questions because they're all very good, legitimate questions." Several days later, Bennish was placed on paid administrative leave by his school district for not including an opposing viewpoint during his rant.If you're curious about how administrators learned of Bennish's lecture without actually being in his classroom, you're not alone. One of Bennish's students, 16-year-old Sean Allen, surreptitiously recorded twenty minutes of his teacher's lecture and then took the recording to local conservative radio stations who broadcast the entirety of the child's recording. That recording can be heard here.
Within twenty-four hours, Bennish had become a national story. Right wing "pundits" ripped him apart. Bombarded by the press, he went back to live with his parents and received death threats. At his school, nearly 100 students protested in favor of Bennish, staging a walkout from their classes. Sean Allen, meanwhile, was invited to meet with Bill Owens, the Governor of Colorado -- who was impressed by the boy's "courage" -- and began appearing regularly with Sean Hannity on TV.These are not isolated incidents. And they seem to be growing more frequent. The frontline of the culture war has shifted. The battle that Republicans wage to control what you say has moved into our schools, our airlines, our malls, our churches and onto the campaign trail itself.
This year, a Republican UCLA graduate offered students money to tape liberal professors in class. He used the recordings to create a list he called "the dirty thirty" which spotlighted to those university teachers who didn't espouse a proper Republican agenda. Right wing activist David Horowitz went one step further and wrote a book exposing and embarrassing liberal professors for the political views they expressed outside of the classroom. If you're not sick to your stomach just yet, wait: there's more.
U.S. Constitution - Amendment 1
Although Americans recognize that our freedom of speech is a Constitutionally protected right, we also acknowledge that this freedom has limitations: for example, society doesn't legally permit me to joke about having a bomb while in line at the airport or to use sexual, racial and religious slurs at the workplace. As an American, I accept these practical limitations on my freedom of speech for the sake of preserving the common good. I will not however, tolerate my freedom of speech from being unfairly eroded. Sadly, this is the case with America: while we fight for Democracy abroad, our own citizens are increasingly being restricted from expressing their political views here at home. Worse yet, the rest of us are allowing these restrictions to go unchallenged while those who do speak their minds are harassed, threatened, or punished.
Last month, during a lecture to his highschool geography class, Jay Bennish ranted against capitalism, against American violence abroad and compared President Bush's 2006 State of the Union speech to previous speeches made by Adolf Hitler. Bennish finished his rant by reassuring his students that they needn't agree with him. To those who openly challenged him, he added "I'm glad you asked all of your questions because they're all very good, legitimate questions." Several days later, Bennish was placed on paid administrative leave by his school district for not including an opposing viewpoint during his rant.If you're curious about how administrators learned of Bennish's lecture without actually being in his classroom, you're not alone. One of Bennish's students, 16-year-old Sean Allen, surreptitiously recorded twenty minutes of his teacher's lecture and then took the recording to local conservative radio stations who broadcast the entirety of the child's recording. That recording can be heard here.
Within twenty-four hours, Bennish had become a national story. Right wing "pundits" ripped him apart. Bombarded by the press, he went back to live with his parents and received death threats. At his school, nearly 100 students protested in favor of Bennish, staging a walkout from their classes. Sean Allen, meanwhile, was invited to meet with Bill Owens, the Governor of Colorado -- who was impressed by the boy's "courage" -- and began appearing regularly with Sean Hannity on TV.These are not isolated incidents. And they seem to be growing more frequent. The frontline of the culture war has shifted. The battle that Republicans wage to control what you say has moved into our schools, our airlines, our malls, our churches and onto the campaign trail itself.
This year, a Republican UCLA graduate offered students money to tape liberal professors in class. He used the recordings to create a list he called "the dirty thirty" which spotlighted to those university teachers who didn't espouse a proper Republican agenda. Right wing activist David Horowitz went one step further and wrote a book exposing and embarrassing liberal professors for the political views they expressed outside of the classroom. If you're not sick to your stomach just yet, wait: there's more.
We tolerate schools sending home students for wearing political t-shirts that might offend others. We tolerate airlines kicking passengers who wear political t-shirts off of flights. We tolerate school guardians physically abusing students for wearing political t-shirts. We tolerate arresting people for wearing t-shirts that advocate peace at public malls. We tolerate religious "leaders" telling us that we must not criticize the President during a time of war because dissent equals treason. We tolerate the Bush campaign ejecting teachers from his rallies because they wear t-shirts with political messages of dissent.
I hear too many Progressives and Liberals complain about the sorrowful state of America. Folks, what else needs to happen before each of you becomes so disgusted with the news that you're willing to stand up, get involved and start working for the ideals in which you truly believe? If you're waiting for abortion to become illegal, your opponents are well ahead of you. The future depends on us. Start demanding action and excellence from those around you: if your leaders can't or won't hear you...speak louder, especially under penalty of scrutiny. In doing so, you inspire others to do the same.Even President Bush defended Jay Bennish and the rights of others to criticize him. So thank you, Mr. President.
And in the unlikely event that you're reading this: I am ashamed of you as a leader and as someone who purports to be compassionate Christian man. The six years you've led this country have been financially, morally and spiritually the darkest times since I've been alive. I support your immediate resignation, your impeachment for repeatedly lying to the American people about how wiretapping requires a court order, about there being WMD in Iraq, and about punishing anyone in your administration for leaking classified information. You owe an apology to this nation's citizens, natural spaces, students, veterans, teachers, poor and to the entire city of New Orleans.You are a President in title only; in action you are a selfish and arrogant prick who refuses to admit to mistakes, the son of a far smarter man who helped you fail on grander and grander scales until you squandered the biggest treasury surplus in American history, ruined our international good standing, and presided over the most divisive period in America's recent years after running on a fictitious platform of being a "uniter, not a divider."
Are you - as Jay Bennish would have us believe - "eerily similar" to Adolf Hitler, Mr. President? No, Sir: I don't believe so. Hitler took far less vacation time than you did during the war he created.
Comments:
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A few quick points from a non-political blogger. First, the school district has a right to investigate any time a teacher "rants" about anything, especially when the subject matter is outside of his course material. Second, the district has a right to place Bennish on administrative leave while doing so. Third, the manner in which the district found out about the rant is largely irrelevant to the discussion.
The covert taping of a teacher's lecture is very important. How we learn about information is a critical issue. It is why evidence can be thrown out in a court of law. a teacher who suppresses the rights of others is a problem. A teacher who expresses a personal view and cites it as such, is not.
# posted by 
: Monday, April 24, 2006 9:57:00 AM
: Monday, April 24, 2006 9:57:00 AM
buck,
you missed the point, my friend. i don't make a case against the school district putting the man on administrative leave. they did what they needed to do.
rather, i make a case for repeated and more frequent restrictions on our freedom of political speech.
since you don't refute any that idea in your post back, i'll assume you agree with my piece.
regards,
david koff
you missed the point, my friend. i don't make a case against the school district putting the man on administrative leave. they did what they needed to do.
rather, i make a case for repeated and more frequent restrictions on our freedom of political speech.
since you don't refute any that idea in your post back, i'll assume you agree with my piece.
regards,
david koff
I agree with the general gist of your message: there is a disturbing trend of restricting speech through intimidation and other means.
But, when you look into the details of some of the specific cases you bring up, the cases aren't always so clear-cut.
On www.thesmokinggun.com I read the police reports regarding the case of the man arrested at the mall over the "give peace a chance" t-shirt. The man was not passively wearing the t-shirt. He and his son (who was wearing a similar shirt) were approaching other people to talk about what the t-shirts said. That's an important difference in degree.
Courts have generally agreed that teachers -- I am one -- are not quite as free as others to speak their mind, even outside of the classroom, if their speech adversely affects the educational process. I read the transcript of the teacher's rant, and it was a rant, not very professional and not relevant to the focus of the course he was teaching.
The woman who was removed from the Southwest Airlines flight wore a t-shirt that referred to Bush et al. with an obscenity. So it wasn't just the politics that people found offensive.
An L.A. Times article reports on a court decision upholding a school's right to restrict a student from wearing a t-shirt that expressed anti-gay sentiment. Where do you fall on that?
(I think one can argue that anti-gay statements have a very different effect on the educational climate than, say, anti-Bush statements do, because they are aimed at other students.)
Thank you for allowing me to comment.
But, when you look into the details of some of the specific cases you bring up, the cases aren't always so clear-cut.
On www.thesmokinggun.com I read the police reports regarding the case of the man arrested at the mall over the "give peace a chance" t-shirt. The man was not passively wearing the t-shirt. He and his son (who was wearing a similar shirt) were approaching other people to talk about what the t-shirts said. That's an important difference in degree.
Courts have generally agreed that teachers -- I am one -- are not quite as free as others to speak their mind, even outside of the classroom, if their speech adversely affects the educational process. I read the transcript of the teacher's rant, and it was a rant, not very professional and not relevant to the focus of the course he was teaching.
The woman who was removed from the Southwest Airlines flight wore a t-shirt that referred to Bush et al. with an obscenity. So it wasn't just the politics that people found offensive.
An L.A. Times article reports on a court decision upholding a school's right to restrict a student from wearing a t-shirt that expressed anti-gay sentiment. Where do you fall on that?
(I think one can argue that anti-gay statements have a very different effect on the educational climate than, say, anti-Bush statements do, because they are aimed at other students.)
Thank you for allowing me to comment.
# posted by : Friday, April 28, 2006 9:00:00 AM
: Friday, April 28, 2006 9:00:00 AM
So true, my favorite of buddies.
We got a bigger issue to resolve before battle the freedom of speech issue.
The greater is issues is the average American has been so beaten by political beaucracy that so few fight back anymore.
We're (the average American) are tired (work, kids, taking care of the home). We're tired of working all day. We're tired that our monthly home budgets have taken a beating in healthcare costs, fuel costs, commuting costs, childcare costs, etc... We're tired to fight the goddman government anymore. We're getting hit from all angles. We need some quality of life. We need some rest. We want to enjoy one another. We don't want to have to fight EVERYTHING.
The average American has become sort of a rape victim. The rape victim that eventually feels that fighting the rapist is futile and therefore just lies back, winces and "takes it".
I'm guilty of just "taking it", too." I want to fight, but I'm just tired of fighting this fucking government.
We got a bigger issue to resolve before battle the freedom of speech issue.
The greater is issues is the average American has been so beaten by political beaucracy that so few fight back anymore.
We're (the average American) are tired (work, kids, taking care of the home). We're tired of working all day. We're tired that our monthly home budgets have taken a beating in healthcare costs, fuel costs, commuting costs, childcare costs, etc... We're tired to fight the goddman government anymore. We're getting hit from all angles. We need some quality of life. We need some rest. We want to enjoy one another. We don't want to have to fight EVERYTHING.
The average American has become sort of a rape victim. The rape victim that eventually feels that fighting the rapist is futile and therefore just lies back, winces and "takes it".
I'm guilty of just "taking it", too." I want to fight, but I'm just tired of fighting this fucking government.
I agree, this paranoia state is also reflected in corporate America, interested in spying on their employees, but zero respect for the information of their customers...all in this age of electronic identity theft.
I HAVE AN ARTICLE ON THIS AT:
http://americanjourney.blogspot.com/
I HAVE AN ARTICLE ON THIS AT:
http://americanjourney.blogspot.com/
I have created a new political party.
Join the Liberal Democratic Party of the United States of America
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/liberaldemocraticpartyusa
http://groups.myspace.com/liberaldemocraticpartyoftheunitedstatesofamerica
Join the Liberal Democratic Party of the United States of America
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/liberaldemocraticpartyusa
http://groups.myspace.com/liberaldemocraticpartyoftheunitedstatesofamerica
# posted by : Tuesday, June 13, 2006 11:49:00 AM
: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 11:49:00 AM
I was daydreaming in class once when I was brought back hearing the teacher, exclaim loudly "We are at War!". Whatever had I missed. He was talking about the Viet Nam Conflict, and not to believe the government, we were at war. It won't have entered my head to complain about what he said. When I read about this man, on a young person's blog, I said they should listen to the teacher. I'd already been thinking about Bush being a Hitler like person.
Recently doing more research I learned how far back the current mess reaches. Bush's grandfather helped fund Hitler, for instance. The connections of the Bush family to Halliburtion (Kellogg, Root & Brown; Dressler). The number of people Bush appointed that were members of his frat, Skull & Bones.
If talking to people about the message on a T-shirt is a crime worthy of arrest, then perhaps Jehovah's witnesses are criminals, anyone passing out sales fliers and talking about what they say should be arrested as well.
The KKK also were allowed to stand on a street corner passing out their hate literature and trying to engage passerby's in conversations, while dressed in their hooded whites. They were not arrested.
Vice Pres Cheney has used the "F" word, so that is ok, but a woman isn't allowed to use a bad word are her own t-shirt.
GWB has rewritten the constitution, or overrided it, committed voter fraud to get elected, among other atrocities. What he does isn't as scary as the people that aren't seeing the destruction of the democracy.
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Recently doing more research I learned how far back the current mess reaches. Bush's grandfather helped fund Hitler, for instance. The connections of the Bush family to Halliburtion (Kellogg, Root & Brown; Dressler). The number of people Bush appointed that were members of his frat, Skull & Bones.
If talking to people about the message on a T-shirt is a crime worthy of arrest, then perhaps Jehovah's witnesses are criminals, anyone passing out sales fliers and talking about what they say should be arrested as well.
The KKK also were allowed to stand on a street corner passing out their hate literature and trying to engage passerby's in conversations, while dressed in their hooded whites. They were not arrested.
Vice Pres Cheney has used the "F" word, so that is ok, but a woman isn't allowed to use a bad word are her own t-shirt.
GWB has rewritten the constitution, or overrided it, committed voter fraud to get elected, among other atrocities. What he does isn't as scary as the people that aren't seeing the destruction of the democracy.
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