Reply #64: It is NOT Free Speech [View All]

[Morgana LaFey]

I sure wish DUers would get it right: The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (you ought to actually read it sometime) guarantees ONLY against GOVERNMENT censorship of speech.

Anyone else with a property right claim can censor as much and as stupidly as they want. It's often called editorial control. You yourself go on to suggest that their advertisers be persuaded not to continue sponsoring them, which would suggest that on one level you actually do understand that it's NOT a FREE SPEECH issue.

So please don't conflate this with FREE SPEECH because it has absolutely nothing to do with it.

I find it terribly offensive and is worthy of condemnation of the highest order, but we need to be careful about trying to silence free speech we do not like.

You're conflicted about this -- again, because you went on to suggest that we silence them by taking away their advertisers. Let me help you out here (or try to):

We don't use the "n" word in polite company any more. Why? Have you ever given it any thought? We don't use it because the people who were negatively affected by it -- and we're NOT just talking about hurt feelings -- finally made enough impression on the dominant culture (white males) that they realized they couldn't get away with that level of racism any more.

We know because there are organizations that track and document the statistics that whenever there are anti-gay initiatives going on anywhere in the country, hate crimes -- actual physical assaults -- against gays go up sharply. The very notion of curtailing their rights and merely talking about them (in polite terms but) negatively gives some people "permission" to go after them physically.

It's not really different for any other oppressed (and hated) group, we just don't have statistics on the matter -- whether blacks and other inorities or women: when their relative position in the larger society suffers in general ways, individual members of those groups are at increased peril of active discrimination and other negative actions against them of all kinds.

Thus, this type of woman-hating talk hurts individual women, and it hurts woman as a class. If we can make the use of the "n" word utterly verboten in polite society (including jokes other than by blacks themselves), we can sure as hell make anti-woman and anti-gay rhetoric and "jokes" verboten.

This stuff is just sick. Please don't twist your mind to find ANY reason to support or defend it; there isn't any. You're being untrue to your own inner core and your own values by doing so, you'll see if you search more deeply.

Hate speech has to end: Racism kills; homophobia kills; sexism kills.

Isn't that a good enough reason for you not to support it in any way, ever?