America Has a Free Speech Problem

[T. A. Gardner]

Not hyperbole.

hyperbole
[hīˈpərbəlē]
NOUN
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
"he vowed revenge with oaths and hyperboles" · [more]
synonyms:
exaggeration · overstatement · magnification · amplification · embroidery · embellishment · overplaying · excess · overkill

Hyperbole. "Incoherent?" No, he can make complete sentences and thoughts--far better than Biden for example. "Babbling?" Yea, to an extent he does ramble but not babble. "Moron?" Not really. The guy might have some crazy ideas and he certainly does exaggerate and conflate things but none of that is incoherent and babbling. Braggard would be a better description. "I'm the greatest President ever!" sort of things.

 

[BidenPresident]

Hyperbole. "Incoherent?" No, he can make complete sentences and thoughts--far better than Biden for example. "Babbling?" Yea, to an extent he does ramble but not babble. "Moron?" Not really. The guy might have some crazy ideas and he certainly does exaggerate and conflate things but none of that is incoherent and babbling. Braggard would be a better description. "I'm the greatest President ever!" sort of things.

Whatever. To the actual point: No one has a right to lecture on a university campus. A lot of people do not comprehend that.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Whatever. To the actual point: No one has a right to lecture on a university campus. A lot of people do not comprehend that.

Right? No. But it doesn't change my thesis: The Left is overwhelmingly the ones against free speech. Universities were merely an excellent, and widespread, example of that in practice.

 

[Legion]

Are Newsletters the Future of Free Speech?

"Society has a trust problem," Substack co-founders Hamish McKenzie, Chris Best, and Jairaj Sethi declared in a joint statement late January. "More censorship will only make it worse."

Substack, a leading online newsletter company that publishes the likes of polarizing journalist Bari Weiss, Brown University economist Emily Oster, COVID-19 contrarian Alex Berenson, and lefty iconoclast Glenn Greenwald, was reaffirming its hands-off approach to content moderation at a moment of intense pressure to "deplatform" controversial voices. That same week, rocker Neil Young accused Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan of spreading pandemic misinformation and demanded that the platform remove his songs if it continued to offer Rogan's show; days later, the White House urged Spotify and all other media companies to be more "vigilant" in policing public health news and commentary.

"As we face growing pressure to censor content published on Substack that to some seems dubious or objectionable," McKenzie and his partners wrote, "our answer remains the same: we make decisions based on principles not PR, we will defend free expression."

Those principles have been good for business thus far. Since launching in 2017, Substack has grown to more than a million paying subscribers, boasts a valuation of $650 million.


Substack's Hamish McKenzie on censorship: https://reason.com/2022/05/01/are-newsletters-the-future-of-free-speech

 

[BidenPresident]

Right? No. But it doesn't change my thesis: The Left is overwhelmingly the ones against free speech. Universities were merely an excellent, and widespread, example of that in practice.

Don't agree.

 

[Into the Night]

Hey we figured you racists would shit your britches over a Black Man becoming our president- or a Black woman becoming our VP!

WE WERE RIGHT! YOU RACIST MOTHERFUCKER'S STILL HAVE YOUR PANTIES IN A WAD OVER THAT!

Thanks for making this obvious to all!

Inversion fallacy.

 

[Into the Night]

How do you figure that? You stated, Trump is an incoherent, babbling moron. Why would a university invite him to speak? You start off by insulting Trump and his ability to speak. Clearly, what you stated is hyperbole in that respect at best. You might not like what he has to say (and I don't have to either), but you use that as an excuse to say he shouldn't be invited to speak at all.

Why would a university ask him to speak? Because, like it or not, he is a major public figure right now. Diversity of ideas and hearing ones that are opposed to what you, yourself, might hold is the whole basis for free speech and exchange of ideas. A university is supposedly the premier location that should be happening. But as I pointed out, a Left leaning to Leftist university wouldn't invite someone from the Right, Trump being only an example. There is a long list of Rightist / Conservative speakers that have been "disinvited" (eg., banned) from speaking at universities.

https://www.thefire.org/how-to-use-the-disinvitation-database/

The Left eagerly justifies this as reasonable.


https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/20...ndment-college-campuses-milo-spencer-protests


https://newrepublic.com/article/142218/colleges-right-reject-hateful-speakers-like-ann-coulter

The reason Rightist speakers are rejected, when you get down to the details, isn't because they are "hateful" or "fascist" but rather because those at Leftist universities hate and oppose all dissent and differing opinions. They simply don't want to have to listen to someone who says things they don't like.

Examples abound here on JPP as well. Democrats and other 'leftists' have constantly tried to censor here, even setting up huge ignore lists and banning anyone with a dissenting opinion from their threads.

 

[Into the Night]

Don't agree.

Paradox. Which is it, dude?

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Don't agree.

And, that is your Right as an American--even if you are an idiot...

 

[BidenPresident]

And, that is your Right as an American--even if you are an idiot...

And you wonder why everyone writes insults back to you.

 

[Geeko Sportivo]

Inversion fallacy.

SO now you like Black Presidents and Black Women Vice Presidents! Since when?

 

[T. A. Gardner]

And you wonder why everyone writes insults back to you.

Another thing the Left lacks: A sense of humor.

 

[BidenPresident]

Another thing the Left lacks: A sense of humor.

Writing insults is not humor. I mean, to a child who thinks boogers are funny.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Writing insults is not humor. I mean, to a child who thinks boogers are funny.

You are an idiot.

 

[BidenPresident]

You are an idiot.

troll

 

[T. A. Gardner]

troll

Insensitive, myopic, ignorant, Karen.

 

[BidenPresident]

Insensitive, myopic, ignorant, Karen.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

 

[AProudLefty]

I read the whole editorial and don't think that is the conclusion, though your objection has legitimacy. Here is their conclusion:

"Free speech is predicated on mutual respect — that of people for one another and of a government for the people it serves. Every day, in communities across the country, Americans must speak to one another freely to refine and improve the elements of our social contract: What do we owe the most vulnerable in our neighborhoods? What conduct should we expect from public servants? What ideas are so essential to understanding American democracy that they should be taught in schools? When public discourse in America is narrowed, it becomes harder to answer these and the many other urgent questions we face as a society."

That is, attack the argument, not the person.

A person must earn respect. If a person disrespect others, others simply will not respect that person. It's quite that simple.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

LGBTPDQRSTUVWXYZ... What's your point? Or, is it

 

[AProudLefty]

That isn't the point, but you do illustrate my point. You too cannot not even conceive of letting a Right winger speak at a Leftist university.

Trump is not a right winger.