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America Has a Free Speech Problem
an article by The NY Times Editorial Board
(our site's article review)
The article says that "Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned. . . . People should be able to put forward viewpoints, ask questions and make mistakes and take unpopular but good-faith positions on issues that society is still working through — all without fearing cancellation.
NY Times, 41 Park Row
[A Times Opinion and Siena College] "poll found that 84 percent of adults said it is a 'very serious' or 'somewhat serious' problem that some Americans do not speak freely in everyday situations because of fear of retaliation or harsh criticism. . . . human beings cannot flourish without the confidence to take risks, pursue ideas and express thoughts that others might reject. When speech is stifled or when dissenters are shut out of public discourse, a society also loses its ability to resolve conflict, and it faces the risk of political violence."
Radical leftists are now trying to get the Republicans disqualified from voting for having opinions different from the liberal narrative—civics lessons, anyone?
Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive of PEN America, a free speech organization, says that "Safeguards for free speech have been essential to almost all social progress in the country, from the civil rights movement to women’s suffrage to the current fights over racial justice and the police."
Cancel culture discourages speech and encourages conformity and it stops the flow of democracy
"We believe it isn’t enough for Americans to just believe in the rights of others to speak freely; they should also find ways to actively support and protect those rights," says the NY Times Editorial Board. "We are under no illusion that this is easy. Our era, especially, is not made for this; social media is awash in speech of the point-scoring, picking-apart, piling-on, put-down variety."
Social media is awash in speech of the point-scoring, picking-apart, piling-on, put-down variety
We need to stop judging everything, complaining about everything, and canceling people for having opinions different from our own. This judgmentalism stops the flow of democracy and makes others unwilling to communicate for fear of bad reactions. The current communication environment discourages speech and encourages conformity. Keep in mind that this conforming may not represent our actual opinions, but instead represent fear of ostricism or cancellation.
The rightwing media (Fox News and Newsmax as well as National Review and Washington Times) reported the truth about Hunter Biden, refusing to participate in all the mindless conformity of the mainstream sheep
For example, all of mainstream media and social media censored or ignored the 2020 Hunter Biden story just prior to the 2020 election in a mass episode of conformity for the purpose of lessening Trump's chances of winning. This isn't journalism—the truth was known but the mainstream media and social media refused to tell the truth. The rightwing media (Fox News and Newsmax as well as National Review and Washington Times) printed the truth, refusing to participate in all the mindless conformity of the mainstream sheep.
The Russia collaboration witchhunt was known to be a fraudulent scam pushed by Hillary Clinton's accomplices—the media pretended to be fooled for years
The same thing happened with the Russia collaboration witchhunt, which was known to be a fraudulent scam pushed by Hillary Clinton's accomplices. The Left pretended to be fooled for years, while the Right never bought the scam for a minute. Trump would have probably won if the mainstream media weren't such a bunch of cowardly conformist sheep. He has been saying all along that the election was rigged and that he was the real winner—this appears to be true!
The Russia collaboration witchhunt was known to be a fraudulent scam pushed by Hillary Clinton's accomplices—maybe this time she shot herself in the foot
Trump would have probably won if the mainstream media weren't such a bunch of cowardly conformist sheep. He has been saying all along that the election was rigged and that he was he real winner—this appears to be true!
"He [Glenn Greenwald] added that Big Tech use the media's disinformation campaign to justify their 'censorship' of any reporting or discussion of the story, and described it as 'easily the most severe case of pre-election censorship in modern American political history.' 'What this means is that, in the crucial days leading up to the 2020 presidential election, most of the corporate media spread an absolute lie about The New York Post's reporting in order to mislead and manipulate the American electorate,' Greenwald wrote, while noting that the Big Tech censorship was based on a 'lie' from the former intelligence officials. 'It means that millions of Americans were denied the ability to hear about reporting on the candidate leading all polls to become the next president, and instead were subjected to a barrage of lies about the provenance (Russia did it) and authenticity (disinformation!) of these documents,' he added." (Source: Glenn Greenwald blasts The New York Times over Hunter Biden laptop admission, Brandon Gillespie, Fox News)
In the crucial days leading up to the 2020 presidential election, most of the corporate media spread an absolute lie about The New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop reporting in order to mislead and manipulate the American electorate
So the NY Times may deserve credit for their change of heart about cancel culture and freedom of speech as discussed in their article America Has a Free Speech Problem, but it certainly doesn't undo the massive years-long support for cancelling people and diluting their freedom of speech rights. It appears to us that this article is a cynical rewriting of history for the political purposes of influencing the 2022 midterms, since the U.S. population has seen actual TRUTH on the rightwing media and it made the left look like the liars and hypocrites they are and have been for years. Their sudden change of heart is nothing if not suspicious!
Tom Cotton
The editorial's arguments, however, run in stark contrast to a previous stance in which The Times caved to liberal staffers over a 2020 op-ed published by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. Cotton's piece advocated for the use of the U.S. military to restore order amid the nationwide riots following the death of George Floyd. The Times initially defended the opinion's publication, which some Times journalists claimed endangered Black employees, but later announced that Cotton's submission didn't meet its standards and claimed there was a "significant breakdown" in its editing process. [this is the lame, spineless sound of a coverup and a sellout] (Source: New York Times slams cancel culture, attacks on free speech despite past Tom Cotton op-ed fiasco, Fox News, Brandon Gillespie)
In colleges students are brainwashed with the radical leftist narrative to make them woke and ready to cancel nonconformists and all things conservative
The reason there is a crisis around the freedom of speech issue is that most people were not taught what it means and why it is so critical. Wokism and cancel culture are undermining the Constitution—cancel culture is a form of hate speech that takes offence at what a person says and reacts by hatefully trampling all over the offender's rights, career, identity, and reputation. Some people wrongly believe this is being woke, when in reality it is merely being hateful, destructive and mean.
Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned
"For all the tolerance and enlightenment that modern society claims, Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned," wrote The Times. . . . The student activists' philosophy is by now familiar to everyone who has paid attention to higher education for the past decade: Speech that perturbs progressives or their allies is illegitimate and should be prevented. This philosophy must be countered by everyone who claims to hold liberal values. It is a relief to know that the Gray Lady still has some fight left in her." (Source: The New York Times Admits That 'America Has a Free Speech Problem', Robby Soave, Reason)
Speech that perturbs progressives or their allies is illegitimate and should be prevented says the leftists
"The editorial by the Times drew swift criticism from some on the left and right sides of the political spectrum. Some of the backlash from the right focuses on what they see as hypocrisy by the outlet, as they believe the Times has engaged in the same behavior they denounce in the article. . . . 'This is rather rich coming from an outlet which has effectively promoted censorship of very legitimate views regarding the reaction to the pandemic,' John Ziegler, former senior columnist for Mediaite, tweeted. . . . Hey @nytimes, whatever you think about bills/laws regulating classroom topic, they're not a form of ‘cancel culture’ which is aimed at destroying individuals or business because people like YOU don't like them. Don't you dare pretend to support free speech now. Nobody's buyin' it,” Ross Kaminsky, a radio host, tweeted." [Anyone with a pulse can see that the Times has spent many years hypocritically engaging in the same behavior they denounce in the article. Now if only they would admit it.] (Source: NYT editorial board to identify 'wide range of threats' to free speech, offer solutions, Lexi Lonas, the Hill)
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Stocks are devices to shunning and shaming violators of the PC bill of rights (believe everything we say or we will make you pay—bye-bye rights)
"The left touts diversity as a strength unless it's the diversity of thought or opinion. The suppression is coming from the left and it goes well beyond mere suppression of speech to a willingness to destroy any and all who disagree with them." (Source: The New York Times: America has a Free Speech problem, Holden Caulfield, tigerdroppings)
The New York Times' America has a Free Speech problem is an obvious political ploy that shows the kind of citizenship, rationality, pro-democracy values that are the opposite of what The New York Times has been spouting for several years.
The New York Times has been a key propagandist of leftist indoctrination (e.g., the 1619 Project) for many years
At first it seemed like a joke, but this surprising journalistic about-face is really an advance article for a campaign of leftist propaganda that will attempt to blow smoke up our backsides about their years-long campaign of suppression of speech—with a willingness to destroy any and all who disagree with them, including their own jounalists. This explains why so many of the comments were so cynical, recalling what the Times has stood for in the last decade, which is the opposite of the values in America has a Free Speech problem.
The 180-degree turn is obviously a cynical response to the fact that people are leaving the Democrats in droves so this is damage control. Their party has lost about 7% of their adherents to the Republicans
People are leaving the Democrats in droves, fed up with the Biden Crime Family
"The New York Times published a terrific editorial on Friday that takes note of "America's free speech problem" and points to both right-wing legislation and cancel culture—enforced by an uncompromising strain of progressivism—as culprits.
"For all the tolerance and enlightenment that modern society claims, Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned," wrote The Times. . . . And yet, many progressives appear to have lost faith in that principle. This was a source of great frustration for one of those who responded to our poll, Emily Leonard, a 93-year-old from Hartford, Conn., who described herself as a liberal. She said she was alarmed about reports of speakers getting shouted down on college campuses. 'We need to hear what people think even though we disagree with them. It is the basis of our democracy. And it's absolutely essential to a continuing democracy.'" (Source: The New York Times Admits That 'America Has a Free Speech Problem', Robby Soave, Reason)
Leftist Marxists and socialists stand ready to ruin lives and reputations if they detect nonconforming opinions, much like the Thought Police in the Orwellian novel 1984
As if we were living in a communist dictatorship, the average citizen in this country feels hesitant to speak their mind for fear of being shamed or shunned—or even cancelled. Leftist Marxists and socialists stand ready to ruin lives and reputations if they detect nonconforming opinions, much like the Thought Police in the Orwellian novel 1984.