Say What?

Some people say stupid things.

Some people say hurtful things.

Some people say offensive things.

Some people say things they think are funny but are not.

Some people say disgusting things.

Some people say annoying things.

Some people say outrageous things.

Some people say things they shouldn’t say.

Some people say things that piss you off.

Some people say things that society condemns.

Some people say racist things.

Some people say hypocritical things.

Some people say foolish things.

Some people say things that amount to heresy.

Some people say ugly things about others.

Some people speak ill of the dead.

Some people call you a Nazi.

Some people call you a communist.

Some people call you a traitor.

Some people are idiots and insist on speaking to prove it.

You know what?

In this country, they can. You may not like it. You may be furious about what they’re saying. It may make you take to the streets to protest, take to the airwaves to argue, take to the churches to pray them away.

You know what?

In this country you can.

This is America. I put on a uniform in 1974 while the Vietnam War was still going on specifically so that you could say whatever the hell you wanted.

Are there limits? Of course.

You can’t call up your ex at 2 a.m. and say you’re coming over to kill them. That’s criminal threats. Not protected.

You can’t tell your friends to go get their guns because you’re going to storm the capitol with them to overthrow the government. That’s Sedition and Insurrection.

You can’t call the White House and tell them you’re going to kill the President–whoever the President happens to be at the time. That’s a federal offense. You’ll be getting a visit from the Secret Service and probably locked up.

But that’s about it. Everything else is fair game.

it’s like that old joke in the 40s. An American was visiting the Soviet Union and told his Russian interpreter, “In America, we have freedom of speech. I can say that President Roosevelt is an idiot and no one will arrest me.”

The Russian replied, “We also have freedom of speech in Russia. I can also say that President Roosevelt is an idiot and no one will arrest me.”

No one should be shot for speaking their mind, whether we like what they say or not.

No one should be told by the government that they can no longer have a late night show because the President doesn’t like what they say.

No one should be fired from their job, taken off a movie, removed from a university because their opinions do not fit into the narrative.

The only way we know what’s going on with each other is to talk. You don’t say something I like? Let’s talk. You say something stupid or racist? Let’s talk. You think my political beliefs are Nazi or communist or unAmerican? Let’s talk.

The guys in the white wigs who created this country knew it. They called it “the marketplace of ideas.” The theory was that the only way we can decide what’s right is to argue it out.

It’s still a good theory. Let’s keep trying it.