It has always fascinated me how liberals and leftists, who are supposedly the most open-minded among us, tolerating and indeed celebrating every weird, whacked-out philosophy, religion or “lifestyle” are in fact the most close-minded and bigotted people around. They tolerate anyone who agrees with them, but use every means at their disposal to silence those who disagree. The libs are the opposite of what they claim to be.

Case in point: Very soon you are going to hear a lot of noise in the mainstream media about the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which is nothing more than a naked attempt to shut down political dissent in this country. This latest attempt to eviscerate the First Amendment is brought to you by the Democrats. They hate Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin (whom I used to work with at the White House), and others who artfully, cogently, skillfully dissent with the left.

But Democrats, like the odious Chuck Schumer and the useful idiot Maurice (Mo) Hinchey, are going to spin a yarn that would make Mark Twain’s jaw drop open in admiration of its audacity: With the full support of mainstream media, the liberal Dems are going to try to shut down talk radio and other conservative sources of political speech and dissent. And they’ll try to do it by telling you black is white and white is black. That is, they’ll say it’s not “fair” to have all these conservative views being aired on radio with no corresponding leftist views. Hello?! Can anyone say CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times, et al? We get the standard leftist pap from them day and night! But that’s not enough for Chuck and Mo.

Brief history lesson: In the earliest days of our country pamphleteers wrote stirring and inspiring works (pamphlets) that helped ignite the American Revolution, notably Thomas Paine. In contrast to Paine, some pamphleteers wrote nasty, scurrilous accusations against political opponents. They were, to put it politely, downright lies. What we today would call “hate speech.” And yet, that’s EXACTLY why the First Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. It was to protect all speech–even lies–and even the speech of those with whom you strongly disagree.

Why does the Constitution protect all speech, including lies? Because the Founders knew that sooner or later those who pedal such lies would be found out and their own dishonesty would blow back and hurt them. That is, they believed in something called truth–that in the end, truth would win out. They believed in people’s good common sense and ability to discern the truth from a lie. Our Founders saw free speech and liberty as one and the same. The opening words of the Constituion tell us that everyone has certain inalienable (can’t-take-them-away) rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Apparently not with Democrats in charge.

Professor Jacobson’s article gives us great insight into how inalienable rights become alienable when the libs come to town and rule (with an iron fist). Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Exercise your free speech now, before it’s too late.

Technorati Tags: Ithaca, Ithaca Common Council, William Jacobson, Cornell University, free speech, protected speech, Fairness Doctrine, pamphleteers, Thomas Paine, First Amendment, Chuck Schumer, Maurice Hinchey