I’ve been having conversations with people about the First Amendment and, more specifically, about the right to a free press. Lefties are certain it’s in jeopardy and nervously discuss approximate but imminent dates for collapse. They sound a bit like Second Amendment conspiracy theorists who listen to talk radio 24/7 and are certain the Muslim Brotherhood is gathering on the banks of Long Creek up in Blue Eye, Missouri.
It puts me in mind of Ben Franklin as he was exiting the Constitutional Convention. A woman stopped him and asked, “What sort of government have you given us?” “A Republic, Madame,” Dr. Franklin replied, “if you can keep it.”
Franklin handed the keys of government over to the people – along with responsibilities for keeping it on the road. With respect to a free press (media), an American’s responsibilities include obligations to distinguish between facts and propaganda and between what is true and what is opinion. That takes work. That was Franklin’s point.
A case in point is the hullabaloo over some white Catholic kids in Make America Great Again hats who apparently stalked and harassed an old vet – a Native American – at a pro-life rally in Washington. If you watch the roughly 60-minute video of the whole encounter – rather than the 60 seconds you got on Facebook – what you’ll see is the old vet stepping in between a black nationalist hate group and smirking adolescents in dunce caps. Lefties turned this routine expression of First Amendment rights into an identity politics horror show while Righties found it useful as an example of !fake! news.
What happens next is the old vet dies and goes to the heaven of his choice. The Black Israelites continue to operate on the lunatic fringe until they go into nursing homes. And the smirking kid tries to explain to his children and grandchildren how it came to pass that once upon a time he supported a President conclusively judged by all historians to have had the intellectual, moral, and instinctual qualities of a feral hog.
That, by the way, is an opinion. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.
That was fun.
Really valid viewpoint on the entire mess. Question is……HOW to get Americans to do what we did, which is to watch the entire 60 min. And then think critically.