How To Spot And Critique Censorship Tropes In The Media’s Coverage Of Free Speech Controversies

Example: “hate speech is excluded from protection. dont [sic] just say you love the constitution . . . read it.” CNN Anchor Chris Cuomo, on Twitter, February 6, 2015.
Example: “I do not know if American courts would find much of what Charlie Hebdo does to be hate speech unprotected by the Constitution, but I know—hope?—that most Americans would.” Edward Schumacher-Matos, NPR, February 6, 2015.

In the United States, “hate speech” is an argumentative rhetorical category, not a legal one.

“Hate speech” means many things to many Americans. There’s no widely accepted legal definition in American law. More importantly, as Professor Eugene Volokh explains conclusively, there is no “hate speech” exception to the First Amendment. Americans are free to impose social consequences on ugly speech, but the government is not free to impose official sanctions upon it. In other words, even if the phrase “hate speech” had a recognized legal definition, it would still not carry legal consequences.

This is not a close or ambiguous question of law.

When the media frames a free speech story as an inquiry into whether something is “hate speech,” it’s asking a question of morals or taste poorly disguised as a question of law. It’s the equivalent of asking “is this speech rude?”

source: Popehat

 

Profs propose using classrooms to counter Trump rhetoric

“These students and their allies look to us for support and assurances,” they write. “The academy can, and should, help our students…contest increased social inequality and exclusionary discourse toward immigrants that is now being amplified by the Trump Administration.”

Translation: We are not engaging in any education anymore. Straight political indoctrination is the order of the day.

Source: Campus Reform

MIT Global Warming Study Based On Speculation

“There’s one huge caveat: Emanuel didn’t actually study Hurricane Harvey itself. Instead, Emanuel’s study is based on thousands of climate model runs to find out the odds a storm will bring the amount of rainfall Hurricane Harvey did when it made landfall in late August 2017.”

‘Climate models’, ie, computer games, do not make it science.

Source: Accuracy in Academia

Fascism Came To America Wrapped In A Rainbow Flag And Wearing A Pussyhat

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That said, the painted face of enlightened coastal liberalism has facilitated the agendas of the oppression machine far more. The drop in healthy suspicion of the US intelligence community, the demand for online censorship, the manufactured support for world-threatening cold war escalations — these things didn’t come from the red states. This willing complicity with Orwellian agendas was birthed into existence by those bastions of progressive values in America’s cultural hubs on either side of the continent. It is maintained by NPR-listening, latte-sipping liberals who view themselves as open-minded and woke.

Source: Medium

What is the Purpose of a Mosque?

“The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets, and the faithful our soldiers.”
— Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan

In Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. forces always found weapons in mosques.

In Europe, security officials find weapons in the mosques they raid.

The reason all mosques should be confiscated and the so-called ‘religion’ decertified as such.

H/T: Understanding The Threat

Prof suggests using art classes to help kids ‘turn out queer’

In his efforts to fight against the “heteronormative realities” of most K-12 schools, Greteman argues that art teachers could impart a “queerer agenda” on students that might “actually help kids turn out queer” [emphasis in original].

Homosexuals are openly abusing children by recruiting them to the so-called ‘lifestyle’. This is pure evil. Why would you abuse children like this? Because you like to sodomize children. It’s well-known that homosexuals are also pedophiles. Just look at all the Catholic priest scandals.

Source: Campus Reform

If the Law Is This Complicated, Why Shouldn’t Ignorance Be an Excuse?

Moreover, as noted, the increasing criminalization of morally blameless conduct makes the punishment of innocent mistakes even more likely. For example, federal law makes it illegal to possess the feather of any native migratory bird even if one just picks it up off the ground, and the potential penalties for doing so include fines and even time in prison. Think federal prosecutors would exercise their discretion to prevent miscarriages of justice under such obscure laws? Think again.

Source: Townhall