More Dems Oppose Free Speech [semi-satire]

Semi-News/Semi-Satire ^ | 30 July 2023 | John Semmens

[John Semmens]

A new poll conducted by Pew Research found that 81% of Democrats and Independents who lean Democrat favor censorship by government and tech companies of speech that they construe as unacceptable. The corresponding figure for Republicans and Independents who lean Republican is 48%. This means that a solid 60% of Americans favor censorship.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) called these findings "disturbing. America's status as the land of the free depends on freedom of speech. Without it, mistaken government policies will escape the inspection and criticism necessary for changing them. Tyrannies benefit from suppressing freedom of speech. This is why the Founders included prohibitions on censorship in our Constitution's Bill of Rights."

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre labeled Jordan "a self-confessed enemy of democracy" for his objections to government-directed censorship, saying "the Pew data show that a clear majority of Americans want the government to protect them from speech that undermines the unity that President Biden has insisted is essential if democracy is to survive against the criticism of disloyal people like Rep. Jordan."

In a debate in the US Senate on the topic, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) argued that "the government has the right to stop social media companies or legacy media companies from putting out content that is wrong. To say that no employee of the government from the president on down to the millions of people who work in the government can request that a social media company or a Legacy Media Company censor ideas that are wrong would infringe on their freedom of speech."

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) argued that "the First Amendment is about preventing the government from suppressing the speech of those who may disagree with its policies. Saying that it should allow government to pressure the media to censor dissent is a total perversion of the purpose of the Amendment. The end result of this perversion is the conversion of America from a free society to a tyranny."

If you missed any of the other Semi-News/Semi-Satire posts you can find them at...

https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Opinion/347581-2023-07-29-semi-news-semi-satire-july-30-2023-edition.htm

[John Semmens]

ping

[Bayard]

Wording of question, censorship of porn to kids, yes. Not political speech.

[No name given]

Well, they are commies after all.

[Seaplaner]

Dr. John Clauser, winner of a 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, says "the IPCC is one of the worst sources of dangerous misinformation. Contrary to what they claim, climate change is not a crisis. They are off by orders of magnitude that would embarrass a freshman science student. Their lack of scientific knowledge allows pseudoscience to promote techno-cons and politically opportunistic aims."

Ah-HA!

Sneaking news into a satire column again?

Thanks, John, for another good and timely piece.

[sima_yi]

John,perhaps you could consider labeling these deci-satire (i.e., one tenth satire, the rest real).

Keep it up!

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you.