The importance of free speech

Recently, I have been accused of being a Bog Dwelling Racist Bigot because of my defense of a couple blogger’s right to free speech. Interestingly, the individual who is making the accusation is supposedly a team player. I made a comment a couple of weeks ago that seemed pretty clear to just about all who read it… except the individual it was directed at, so I’ll publish it here:

”…I fully agree with Voltaire's idea:

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

Though he did not actually write this, the phrase was invented by a later author as an epitome of his attitude. It appeared in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the pseudonym S[tephen] G. Tallentyre.

My point now is the same as it has always been:

I don't need to agree or disagree with anybody's position; but I will defend to the death their right to say it. That was why I served: to protect this country against all enemies; both foreign and domestic. Interestingly, by attacking [one’s] free speech, you seem to be placing yourself in the latter column…”

Gawfer- Warou Ichiyusai Homepage 07.24.08 - 7:32 am #

Now, because I have defended Free Speech, I received an email earlier this week… while on vacation:
Gawfer:

You told me Robert was a good man, of good heart.

I seriously have to question those statements. He's gotten worse, and you've joined him, maybe not at this thread, but you're enabling that hatred…”

“…It's hard for me to understand, really. The best I can say is that you, Robert, Texas Fred, Cary, Jenn, Kris, and a few other random commenters form an evil community of hatred.

You all sit around and call people child pedophiles, while defending the most evil attacks on the nicest people like Amy Proctor…”

“…Jenn's the worse hypocrite. She attacked Sherry on the View but embraces Texas Fred, totally giving him a pass…”

First of all, the only disagreement with Amy Proctor was with ONE individual; not the collective so the author’s generality is a typical error of the left. Personally, I enjoy Amy’s website and frequently agree with her articles, commenting occasionally. But I digress.

The clear issue here is that because there are differing views about issues, the use of colorful and sometimes derogatory language, and because certain individuals believe their education gives them some sort of intellectual superiority, they feel they have the right; nay, the responsibility to become the moral police, publishing and berating the “offenders,” attempting to have their websites shut down.

News Flash: Frequently, people say derogatory things that are intended to be hurtful. Look no further than the daily kos or the Huffington post for examples (I won’t even bother to link those sites). But the thing about the first amendment is it doesn’t protect us from being offended. And the minute we begin to regulate free speech simply to protect the minority, we damage the core of that inalienable right and the heart of this nation.

Here are a couple of recent examples:

• 1962, Engel v. Vitale: Prayer is outlawed in the classrooms;

• 1985, Wallace v. Jaffree: Period of Silence banned;

• 1992, Lee v. Weisman: Clergy cannot deliver invocations, no matter how banal, at school functions. Establishes vital new constitutional right to “not feel uncomfortable.”

• Current: Atheists are endeavoring to remove “In God We Trust” from our currency and “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.
(How to ruin the United States of America, Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth, New Beginnings Press, 2008).


When one attempts to quiet the American Voice in public forums such as the internet, one becomes the enemy who is destroying this Country from within.

With that being said, please understand, my website is NOT a public forum but a personal journal of opinions, and is completely regulated by me. The rules of engagement are simple: if I find your comments offensive or irrelevant, I reserve the right to edit them and or delete them. I will not hesitate to ban anyone who is too stupid to function. Free Speech Begins and ends with your own site; not mine.

Finally, as I said previously, “…I don't need to agree or disagree with anybody's position; but I will defend to the death their right to say it…”

And for the record, I play golf with friends and acquaintances; not back stabbing morons.