Not only has free speech become a four-letter word--profane, obscene, uncouth, not to be uttered in so-called public places--but in more and more cases, the US government deems it to be downright dangerous and in some instances illegal. It has become particularly intolerant of speech that challenges its power, reveals its corruption, exposes its lies, and encourages the citizenry to push back against its many injustices.
Indeed, there is a long and growing list of the kinds of speech that the government considers dangerous enough to red flag and subject to censorship, surveillance, investigation and prosecution: hate speech, bullying speech, intolerant speech, conspiratorial speech, treasonous speech, threatening speech, incendiary speech, inflammatory speech, radical speech, anti-government speech, right-wing speech, extremist speech, etc.
Yet by allowing the government to whittle away at cherished First Amendment freedoms--which form the backbone of the Bill of Rights--we have evolved into a society that would not only be abhorrent to the founders of this country, but would be hostile to the words they used to birth this nation.
Don't believe me?
Conduct your own experiment into the government's tolerance of speech that challenges its authority, and see for yourself.
Stand on a street corner--or in a courtroom, at a city council meeting or on a university campus--and recite some of the rhetoric used by the likes of Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, John Adams and Thomas Paine without referencing them as the authors.
For that matter, just try reciting the Declaration of Independence, which rejects tyranny, establishes Americans as sovereign beings, recognizes God as a Supreme power, portrays the government as evil, and provides a detailed laundry list of abuses that are as relevant today as they were 240 years ago.
My guess is that you won't last long before you get thrown out, shut up, threatened with arrest or at the very least accused of being a radical, a troublemaker, a conspiratorialist or an extremist.
Try suggesting, as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin did, that Americans should not only take up arms but be prepared to shed blood in order to protect their liberties, and you might find yourself placed on a terrorist watch list, vulnerable to being rounded up by government agents.
"What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms," declared Jefferson. He also concluded that "the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Observed Franklin: "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"
Better yet, try suggesting, as Thomas Paine, Marquis De Lafayette, and Patrick Henry did, that Americans should, if necessary, defend themselves against the government if it violates their rights, and you will be labeled a domestic extremist.
"It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government," insisted Paine. "When the government violates the people's rights," Lafayette warned, "insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties." And who could forget Patrick Henry, with his ultimatum: "Give me liberty or give me death!"
Then again, perhaps you don't need to test the limits of free speech for yourself. One such test is playing out before our very eyes in Portland, Oregon, where radio "shock jock" Pete Santilli, a new media journalist who broadcasts his news reports over YouTube and streaming internet radio, is sitting in jail.
Santilli, notorious for his controversial topics, vocal outrage over government abuses, and inflammatory rhetoric, is not what anyone would consider an objective reporter. His radio show, aptly titled "Telling You the Truth...Whether You Like It or Not," makes it clear that Santilli has a viewpoint (namely, that the government has overstepped its bounds), and he has no qualms about sharing it with his listeners.
It was that viewpoint that landed Santilli in jail.
Long a thorn in the side of the FBI, Santilli was arrested in January 2016 by the FBI following its ambush and arrest of armed protesters who had carried out an act of civil disobedience by occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns, Oregon. Santilli was charged, along with the armed resistors, with conspiracy to impede federal officers from discharging their duties by use of force, intimidation, or threats--the same charge being levied against those who occupied the refuge--which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
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