Political discourse before, during and following the recent elections seems
to have been more divisive than usual. The rhetoric has often been inaccurate,
sometimes intentionally misleading, or otherwise just plain malicious.
During the past several months, such dialogue was commonly employed at
the national, state and local levels. Citizens have protested in the streets
carrying acrimonious signage and chanting slogans that many find offensive.
Some of those demonstrations turned violent and resulted in personal
injuries and significant damage to private property. Those responsible for
injuries and property damage should be held responsible.
Many continue to express their outrage. They allege feeling upset, hurt,
offended, or suffering personal insult by seeing, hearing or reading
passionately expressed diverse political opinion.
Incredibly, many of our universities are the focus of this ferment of
indignation. Several of the same campuses that developed “celebrating diversity”
have become hotbeds of political correctness. Both students and faculty seek
out safe havens where they are protected from free speech.
However, it is not all that divisive and acrimonious discourse that
threatens our nation. Rather, it is the attempts to suppress the freedom to assemble
and speak freely that is our greatest danger.
Benjamin Franklin
wrote in 1755: "Those who would give up essential Liberty,
to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor
Safety." Throughout history, political
despots have acquired and maintained tyrannical power by persuading their
citizens to give up their freedom in exchange for security.
First, political leaders disarm their “subjects” by convincing them the
confiscation of their weapons will create a safer society. Once their citizens
have no means of self- protection, any who dare to express divergent political
opinions are persecuted, prosecuted and often imprisoned. Hundreds of millions
have lost their lives for expressing political opinions that are unpopular with
their rulers.
Our nation’s founders clearly understood that inherent danger. Rough and
tumble political rhetoric has been the American Way since before our
constitutions were drafted. In 1765, more than 20
years before he helped draft the United States Constitution, John Adams, our
Second President wrote: “Be
not intimidated...nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by
any pretense of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often
used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery and cowardice.”
His
words are as true today as they were 250 years ago.
The first Amendment to the United States Constitution states
in part:
Congress shall make no law…. abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble…
Section 8 of the Oregon
Constitution’s Bill of Rights states:
No law shall be passed restraining
the free expression of opinion, or restricting the right to speak, write, or
print freely on any subject whatever; BUT every person shall be responsible for
the abuse of this right.—
Our
founders clearly reserved for Americans the constitutional rights to freely
speak, and write our opinions, on any matter whatsoever. Those rights of free
expression are only limited by personal responsibility and the laws governing
libel, slander and malicious lies.
In the United States, federal laws regarding defamation are closely tied to the
First Amendment. In short, that body of law has consistently and reliably
determined that opinion is not considered defamation in the United
States.
The only expression
that is not protected under our Constitutional free-speech provisions are false
statements of fact that harm the reputation of an individual or business. Only
those who willfully make harmful, declarative statements that can be proven
false in a court of law can be lawfully prosecuted for what they say or write.
This remains true, no matter how offensive some may consider the rhetoric.
Yet too many Americans
are allowing ourselves to be intimidated from expressing our political views.
We refrain from expressing our opinions out of our concern for the threat that
others may consider our thoughts indelicate, impolite, offensive, indecent or
even hateful.
Moreover, much of
the press, the broadcast media and too many universities are quick to label
dissenting opinion as hate speech. The tools of these would-be speech police
are labels such as “racist,” “bigots,” “sexist,” “homophobe,” “misogynist” and “supremacists.”
They employ those
terms to discourage opposing political discourse through applying peer pressure
and using the media to create public shame and humiliation. They imply the threat
of potential prosecution under laws that forbid “hate speech.” Their purpose is
intimidation and their desired result is to quash opposing political discourse.
Our country was
formed as a constitutional republic. It was to be ruled by duly enacted laws
that conform to the principles enumerated in our Constitution. We all should
respect that rule of law.
However, we must
never give up our rights to freely assemble and to express our free and
unfettered opinions. We must especially maintain our right to express our grievances
regarding how well our laws comport with those constitutional principles.
No duly enacted law
can constitutionally restrict our freedom to speak and write our thoughts and
opinions. We still have the constitutional right to express our opinions to
anyone, on any subject matter, whatsoever!
That right is under
attack today to a greater degree than anytime during my lifetime. We must not
succumb. It must not be our generation that trades essential freedoms for a
little temporary security.
Please remember--if we do not stand up for rural Oregon, no one will.
Best Regards, Doug
Senate District 28
Email: Sen.DougWhitsett@state.or.us I Phone: 503-986-1728 Address: 900 Court St NE, S-311, Salem, OR 97301 Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/whitsett
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