(Editor's Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party, or candidate, on the part of Newsmax.)
There's No Getting Around Losing Free Speech Means We’ve Lost It All
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and others have said that left-wing media outlets such as MSNBC and CNN must stop inciting political violence by referring to former President Donald Trump as an existential threat to democracy.
The words "inciting violence" are dangerous — no matter who's claiming it.
And it's particularly dangerous from the left, because the left dominates essentially everything: government, the large corporations, the media, universities, primary and secondary schools, and all of culture, including the entertainment industry.
But it's still dangerous no matter who says it. When conservatives claim, "Kamala Harris incites violence by spreading hatred of Trump supporters," it logically implies, "They shouldn't be permitted to do this. They should be held legally accountable for their speech." It’s like saying: "You’re making people violent by saying things they dislike."
Let’s be clear: You cannot incite me to do anything just because you express strong opinions. I can't incite you to do anything just because I express strong opinions.
You're free to ignore me, and I'm free to ignore you. Unless or until you initiate an act or threat of force against me, the law is not in play. Or at least, it should not be.
Conservatives are understandably frustrated by everything happening globally.
However, we all must understand a basic principle of psychology: It's not possible to make someone say or do something merely because of your words.
The left today claims that certain speech is "hateful" (never defined) and a "threat to democracy," (never defined) — and therefore can be punished on that basis alone.
Yes, we still have a First Amendment in America — at least for now — and those on the left must tread more carefully than tyrants otherwise would; but for all practical purposes, left-adherents and Democrats no longer recognize free speech.
They merely pretend to do so because they realize they might lose the support of the confused swing state voters on Election Day.
Comedian Ricky Gervais says it well, "Everyone agrees with free speech until they hear something they don’t like."
The left seemingly is not held accountable for their contradictions.
The minute not just President Trump, but anyone critical of leftism expresses disagreement with any of their views, they make the charge, "Hate Speech! Hate Speech!"
Then they turn around, loudly proclaiming, "The First Amendment doesn’t protect Hate Speech."
Oh, it doesn’t?
"You can’t shout fire in a crowded theater!" they exclaim.
That’s because the theater owner doesn’t want his customers annoyed or terrorized.
It’s bad for business.
The reason you can’t shout fire in a crowded theater is because of property rights, not because there are exceptions to freedom of speech.
Free speech neither endorses nor condemns any specific type of speech.
It merely upholds the right to speak freely. Of course, in a fully free society, you can’t speak freely without the consent of the person on whose property you’re speaking.
The right to free speech doesn’t permit Kamala Harris supporters to put signs on the lawn of a Trump supporter.
Why are the people who scream the loudest about "hate speech" the ones most riddled with hatred and venom?
Woke leftists preach self-importantly that they hate hatred. They're against hatred on principle. But what about their own hatred — of those they want silenced? It's self-refuting. Yet nobody ever calls them on it.
The left lives in a cultural, legal, and political vacuum.
They reinforce and agree with each other on absolutely everything.
They shun those who even hint at crossing the party line.
They rarely face the dissension of right wingers, because they refuse to listen; and increasingly, they attempt to shut down the opposition either by screaming and waving their fists or, more recently, with imprisonment and even guns.
The mentality of the left is characterized by anger and rage.
Often, anger and rage are a mask for fear and terror.
Psychologically, most people would rather feel angry than petrified.
Anger (rather than fear) makes them feel stronger and like they haven't been defeated.
It's perfectly understandable.
However, the terror that many on the left feel at the prospect of living in a world where anyone — absolutely anyone at all, especially one as unapologetic as Donald Trump — disagrees with them now converts into rage and a desire to imprison people who dissent from left propaganda.
This is genuinely a most dangerous point we now find ourselves in; it means we’re rapidly approaching some modern equivalent of Nazi Germany (1933-1945).
Want to try objecting to any of this? You're guilty of "hate speech."
"Off with your head!" Or the 21st century equivalent.
Being cancelled or (in Donald Trump’s case) indicted or possibly assassinated.
Beyond the current election season, free speech faces perhaps its most chilling times.
That "chill" will transmute to an ice-age level freeze, unless we stand up to for our First Amendment, now with all the passion, integrity, and conviction we possess.
And if we don't have those qualities, we need to learn to acquire them fast, to preserve our nation's future.
(A related article may be found here.)
Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology. He is the author of "Grow Up America" and "Bad Therapy, Good Therapy," available exclusively at www.DrHurd.com. He has been quoted in and/or appeared on over 30 radio shows/podcasts (including Rush Limbaugh and Larry Elder), on Newsmax TV, and writes two self-help columns weekly. Dr. Hurd resides in Charleston, South Carolina. Read more of Dr. Hurd's reports — Here.