Posted on 05/27/2007 4:14:48 AM PDT by Kaslin
It’s been 43 years since student protester Mario Savi ignited the “free speech movement” at Berkeley with his famous address urging students “to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus -- and you’ve got to make it stop!”
Today, liberals are still trying to stop “the machine,” but they’re not aiming at the government or university officials. The “machine” they are trying to stop is public opinion that disagrees with theirs. The American left has adopted a totalitarian mindset; they’re actively working to stamp out dissent.
Did you know that the same liberal group that helped to get Don Imus fired for his offensive “ho” remark tried to get Rush Limbaugh censored from the Armed Forces Network? Or that this group, Media Matters, which reportedly is backed by anti-American financier George Soros, has declared war on conservative talk radio? Imus, who is not a conservative, was merely the test case.
Let’s look at some other ways that liberals are trying to stifle free speech.
1) Targeting churches. “Project Fair Play,” a program of Barry Lynn’s Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, is seeking informants to monitor churches for evidence that pastors are engaging in political speech.
2) Reviving the “Fairness Doctrine.” Frustrated by the dominance of conservative talk radio, liberals are trying to re-enact an old law that expired in 1986 requiring broadcasters to provide “balance.” In 2004, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) tried to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. Now, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is talking about reviving it. The idea is to force stations to air leftists like Al Franken if they want to continue airing conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin or Sean Hannity.
3) Restricting grass-roots lobbying. The Executive Branch Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 984), sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), requires Executive Branch officials to keep copious records of their contact with public citizens. The danger is that fine-wary officials will simply restrict their dealings with citizens. A similar action aimed at Congress was defeated last year. But these are the malignant stepchildren of the McCain-Feingold Act (2002), which effectively prohibits private entities from advertising on issues within 30 days of an election.
4) Sponsoring a federal “hate crimes” bill that will greatly expand the scope of federal power and lay the foundation for “thought crime” and suppressing speech. Similar laws are being wielded in Canada, Great Britain, and Sweden to eliminate public discourse critical of homosexuality. In that spirit, the English House of Lords recently enacted a law prohibiting private, religious schools from teaching the Biblical doctrine that homosexuality, like other out-of-wedlock sex, is a sin. As attorney Scott Lively notes, this repeals the religious freedom guarantee in the Magna Carta (1215), the legal fountainhead of individual rights.
5) Using the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) as a liberal mouthpiece, while shutting out conservative voices. PBS abruptly canceled “Islam Versus Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center,” a documentary that had been slated as part of the America at a Crossroads series, which began airing in April. Although PBS denies any political motive, film maker Martyn Burke says the network first demanded that he fire conservative co-producer Frank Gaffney and then nixed the segment.
6) Insisting that only ideologically predictable scientists are heard on the topic of “man-made” global warming. For example, the Weather Channel features The Climate Code with Dr. Heidi Cullen, who calls for decertifying any meteorologist who won’t toe the line on human-caused “climate change.”
This short list is by no means exhaustive. Using actual government power or merely a compliant media, liberals are trying to reestablish the kind of information monopoly that they enjoyed before the Internet, talk radio, and other conservative outlets provided alternatives.
In closing, let’s revisit Mario Savi’s adventures. Most people don’t recall that, among other things Savi said that December day in Berkeley, he assailed authorities for not allowing him to show certain “movies” in Sproul Hall.
Liberals have a soft spot for porn, because it helps undermine the moral order that facilitates personal responsibility, and thus, independence from the elites. The problem, Savi said, was “a lot of squeamish moral mothers for a moral America and other people on the outside.”
Yes, those people. They need to be dealt with.
Robert Knight is director of the Culture & Media Institute at the Media Research Center, www.MRC.org.
You know how we can end all this PC stuff?
Have a Screw Political Correctness Day. Everywhere. Do what they did on college campuses. Have bake sales, have garage sales and charge based on race, gender, sexual preference.
When the cops show up, tell them to piss off. Get arrested. Make a stink. Force the papers to write about it. Make it so absurd that people will finally wake up.
Wonder how many black churches Lynn plans to monitor.
Good idea....I am sure many of us can do non-PC stuff to gather attention.
Its funny that yesterday’s “free speech” crowd is today’s new Hitler Youth
sssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........
They were the generation that called Bob Hope "Square".
These overgrown hippies want to ban everything from cigiretts to french fries.
It was Bob Hope's generation that actually understood freedom.
Excellent idea!!!
Well there are some very conservative black churches, but for the most part they stay out of politics. So there could be a few they would target.
Here's something interesting. I play in a band which the other memebers are flaming liberal prix. One day somebody said the word "gay" and the singer asked them not to say it because the word "offends" her. Now, we play a song by Green Day called "Holiday" which uses the lyric "FAG." We have this gig coming up at the America Legion which is benefiting Relay For Life. Well, I had the gall to suggest we either not use, or replace the foremention word because it might be just rude.
Well, they all pounced on me like there was no tomorrow!! They were saying stuff like, that's PC, and we're not gonna bow to any PC pressure! Whatever? Obviously liberals don't want to offend people, but they could care less if they're just plain rude! I'm not gonna even mention this song is an anti-war banger. I'm sure playing this song at an American Legion makes them quite happy, so just to piss them off I might jump in and scream something over that word!
Of course, the question remains: to whom?
BTW, the his name was Mario Savio.
I have this funny feeling that your band will suffer from some line-up changes (creative differences!!) before you guys are headlining a big arena tour!!
Musically we get along great!!! So I guess we're all willing to put aside our "creative differences" to make it work.
Politics never comes up because we're so interested in making the music sound right...
Actually, I've long thought it would be a great thing to have someone undercover at the DNC's main office to find out the extent of their America hating. Is it simply a mindset, or do they go beyond that line to intentionally undercut the foundatiuons that this country was built upon? Of course, given the GOP support of the immigration bill, we might have to place someone at the RNC, as well. And, if some really juicy stuff could be had, I think there would be an outlet for it out there somewhere, but you couldn't go to the usual suspects in the media.
If you guys sound like Green Day, how "right" can it sound? Green Day has been around for more than a decade, now, yet they've barely progressed beyond pop-punk. Three chords and a bucket of spittle. Instead of emulating this crap (mind you, I like some of this stuff when I'm in the mood), how about studying some real songwriters and musicians to take things to another level? I can't believe how utterly dormant and lame the American music scene has become. There is not one band or performer worth a darn at this time, nor has there been for many a year.
Today this is what the people dance too. I've been playing for thirty years! I'm a RUSH fan. So I know how to play "good" rock music.
It's one thing to play a song, it's a totally different thing to play a song well. It's a totally different thing to learn how to "clik" with your band.
Three chords and the truth is all ya need!
““Project Fair Play,” a program of Barry Lynn’s Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, is seeking informants to monitor churches for evidence that pastors are engaging in political speech.”
Will Barry Lynn also have informants to monitor mosques?
http://drsanity.blogspot.com/2006/05/four-pillars-of-socialist-revival-and.html
Been trying to post this all day but it wanted to shove me into the blog section...
Conservative Psychiatrist writing about the left.
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