Will
Censorship Prevail Over The First Amendment?
By Paul
Craig Roberts
February 18, 2020 "Information
Clearing House"
- I remember when censorship in
America was a limited phemonenon.
It applied during war time—“loose lips
sink ships.”
It applied to pornography.
It applied to curse words on the public
airwaves and in movies.
It applied to violence in movies.
There could be violence, but not the
level that has become common.
Today censorship is ubiquitous.
It is everywhere.
In the United States censorship is both
imposed from above and flows from the bottom up.
Censorship is imposed from above by, for
example, TV and print media, Google, Facebook,
Twitter, and by laws in 28 states prohibiting
criticism and participation in boycotts of
Israel and by President Trump’s executive order
preventing federal funding of educational
institutions that permit criticisms of Israel.
Censorship flows from the bottom up by, for
example, people of protected races, genders, and
sexual preference claiming to be offended.
The
ubiquitous censorship that today is
characteristic of the United States has shut
down comedians. It has shut down criticism of
non-whites, homosexuals, transgendered,
feminists, and Israel. Official explanations are
shielded by labeling skeptics “conspiracy
theorists.”
The ubiquitous censorship in the United
States is an extraordinary development as the US
Constitution guarantees freedom of expression
and a free press.
We owe
journalist Abby Martin appreciation for
reminding us of our right to free speech.
Aby is suing the state of Georgia, one of
28 states that have violated the Constitutional
protection of free speech.
|
Are You Tired Of
The Lies And
Non-Stop Propaganda?
|
Abby
was scheduleded to give the keynote speech at a
conference at Georgia Southern Univeristy.
She discovered that in order to speak
publicly at a Georgia college she had to sign a
pledge of allegience not to criticize Israel.
Her refusal to sign resulted in the
conference being cancelled.
Here we have the state of Georgia blocking free
speech because it will not support the Israeli
position on Palestine. See:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/02/no_author/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/
.
Also:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/filmmaker-who-wouldnt-sign-georgias-oath-not-to-boycott-israel-sues-us-state/
Think
about this for a moment. More than half of the
50 states that comprise the United States have
passed laws that are clear violations of the US
Constitution.
Moreover, these 28 states have imposed
censorship in behalf of a foreign country.
Americans have gags stuck in their mouths
because 28 state governments put the interest of
Israel higher than the First Amendment of the US
Constitution. When government itself is opposed
to free speech, what becomes of democracy and
accountable government?
Why
would 28 states legislate against the US
Constitution?
One explanation is that the state
governments were bought by the Israel Lobby with
money under the table, by promises of political
campaign donations, or by threats of financing
rival candidates.
How else do we explain 28 state
governments imposing censorship in behalf of a
foreign country?
Abby
Martin is one person who will not stand for it.
She has brought a lawsuit that—if the US
Supreme Court is still a protector of the First
Amendment—will result in the 28 state laws and
Trump’s executive order being overturned.
The protection of Israel against boycotts
parallels state laws passed in the 1950s that
prevented Martin Luther King’s movement from
boycotting businesses that practiced racial
segregation. These laws were overturned by the
Supreme Court.
The
outcome of Abby Martin’s suit will tell us
whether the US Constitution is still a living
document.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of
the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate
editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was
columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News
Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many
university appointments. His internet columns
have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts'
latest books are
The Failure of Laissez Faire
Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West,
How America Was Lost,
and
The Neoconservative Threat to
World Order.
Donate
and support Dr, Roberts Work.
The
views expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of Information Clearing House.
