Posted on 12/23/2014 12:55:59 PM PST by reaganaut1
The old, classical idea of liberalism embraced freedom of speech. A commitment to liberty meant respecting the right of every person to speak, and it equally meant opposing the use of state power to censor or in any way “chill” freedom of speech.
By the same token, all people were free to associate for the purpose of advancing their peaceful interests and government had no right to interfere either directly or indirectly, such as by compelling the release of membership information.
The leading case in this regard is NAACP v. Alabama. Alabama’s segregationist officials, irked that the NAACP was working against their policies, wanted it silenced and ousted from the state. Toward that goal, it relied upon state law to compel the NAACP to disclose a list with the names and addresses of all its members and agents within the state.
In its brief, co-authored by Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP argued that Alabama was trying to violate constitutionally protected rights of free speech and association.
The case was decided in 1958. Unanimously, the Supreme Court held that the state could not require the NAACP to disclose such information. Writing the Court’s opinion, Justice Harlan said, “Inviolability of privacy in group association may in many circumstances be indispensable to preservation of freedom of association, particularly where a group espouses dissident beliefs.”
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
2014, where liberals are communists, and “conservatives” are liberals.
and dissent was once patriotic too
The Left has always been pragmatists. Well, at least since Saul Alinsky. Marx said, “The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims.” Alinsky said, “Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.”
Freedom of speech was just a club they used to beat us over the head with. They forced all this cultural rot and Marxist theory on us, then they shut speech down. If not forcefully (which they do) then by coordinated ridicule.
Liberals only value that which advances their anti-Christ agenda.
This is why I do my best to not reference them as liberals any more. They aren’t. They are leftists, Nazi, fascist, socialists, communist. They are NOT liberal.
They still are. It's just that in modern Leftist Newspeak, the definition of "liberal" is: "A Progressive (totalitarian leftist) in liberal clothing."
We conservatives ought to start taking back the language by calling ourselves "liberals," which is much more historically accurate.
The Progressives only started calling themselves liberals after Progressivism got a bad name in the 30s and 40s. And in more recent decades "liberal" has gotten a bad name because of what the Progressives did to that term.
So now they are calling themselves "Progressives" again.
I call them Treasoncrats.
Its a fitting name because they have been betraying America since their party was founded.
Until the Marxists stole the name “Liberal.”
In the 1790s
That was back when they needed to exercise those rights in order to advance their agenda.
Like communists everywhere, liberals are only for THEIR freedom of speech and association.
True.
They still are I think. There is absolutely nothing liberal about the modern American left though. Nowadays American leftists are about as subtle as dysentery about their authoritarian, indeed totalitarian impulses.
Liberals yes, leftists never.
The old, classical idea of liberalism embraced freedom of speech.
Classic liberalism is the opposite of leftism. Classic liberalism is about personal liberty, limited government, private property. US conservatives are by and large "classic liberals"; leftists, progressives, modern Democrats are not and have generally never been.
Those things are still sacred to liberals, but modern day leftists are not liberals, in any real sense of the term. They have gone so far to the left that true liberals ended up on the right side of the political spectrum a few decades ago.
This is what POWER does to people. As long as they didn’t have POWER, of course they all were for all these freedoms. But once they had a taste of POWER, they immediately changed their attitude. You know the old saying? “POWER CORRUPTS, AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY”
The word, “LIBERALS” has now become a misnomer. There is nothing “liberal” about these SOCIOECONOMIC FASCISTS.
Liberal” stems from the word “liberty” and these people hate freedom and INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS. Which means they are for COLLECTIVE RIGHTS and the fascist policies required to ensure the power of the COLLECTIVE vs. the INDIVIDUALS.
Reminds me of the saying —
— “Socialism: Policies so good, they need to use FORCE to implement them.”
“The issue is never the issue. The issue is the revolution.”
—David Horowitz, quoting unnamed SDS leader.
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