The right to free speech is protected by the First Amendment. It’s a long-held Constitutional right cherished by Americans and is the foundation of a free press.
The vandals who took over the Capitol building in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, said they were exercising that right. But they went beyond the boundaries of the law that protects free speech and peaceable demonstration, descending into the realms of anarchy and crime. One of them, from Bradenton, was sentenced last week to 18 months in prison.
The shooting of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania political rally on Saturday descended even further into the criminal realm; had the gunman survived, he would likely have been charged with attempted murder.
Taking over government buildings and attempting assassinations used to be ideological horrors that happened in “other” countries whose names and boundaries were always changing and whose presidents were always fleeing.
The U.S. is not baseball, apple pie and ’57 Chevys anymore, if it ever was. King and the Kennedys changed everything. But all of us – Democrats, Republicans and everyone in between – can surely agree that extremist minorities on either side don’t speak for the majority, that a young man’s murderous decision does not define a party, or a nation, and that using free speech rights to incite hatred, fear and distrust will only ensure more of the same.
It’s time to reset and turn our ideological devices back on.
If we’re lucky, the Constitution – or, at least, common sense – will be the first thing that pops up on our search engines.
