The Cost of Freedom

I've heard it said before that the antidote to hate speech is more speech.  It seems that the ACLU is wrestling with the problem.  Should they support the rights of groups whose principals are antithetical to them?

It was 1934 and fascism was on the march not only in Europe but in America. People who admired Adolf Hitler, who had taken power in Germany, formed Nazi organizations in the United States.

The American Civil Liberties Union, represented by lawyers who were Jewish, faced an existential question: Should the freedoms it stood for since its founding in 1920 apply even to racist groups that would like nothing more than to strip them away?

Back then, the ACLU decided that the defense of free speech was mote important than the political values of the speakers.  They are wrestling with the same choices today.

The national organization said Thursday that it would not represent white supremacist groups that want to demonstrate with guns. That stance is a new interpretation of the ACLU’s official position that reasonable gun regulation does not violate the 2nd Amendment.

 We note that the white supremacist group that was attacked my Antifa in Charlottesville last weekend had guns.  We also note that no one was shot.  And this sums up my problem with the ACLU. They don't like the Second Amendment.

In the 1930s the ACLU made the proper decision that the rights of Americans extend to everyone, and that they would work to protect the rights of all Americans, regardless of their political leanings.

Yesterday, they decided that the rights of some groups are worth protecting.  If you are not one of the favored groups, your rights are not worth protecting.

Many Americans are starting to realize that the (alt-right, Neo-Nazi, white supremacist...pick your descriptor) group in Charlottesville did it right They got a permit and came to the park to engage in free speech.  They were attacked enroute by left-wing Antifa who wanted to shut them down.  When attacked, the right-wing group (some of who were armed) displayed remarkable discipline.  No one was shot.  Antifa came looking for a fight.

The ACLU has made the wrong choice here.  The First Amendment rights of all Americans must be protected, as well as the 2nd Amendment rights of all Americans.  The antidote to bad free speech is good free speech.

I am the NRA and I am freedom's safest place.