Political leaders stifling free speech

 

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” – Evelyn Beatrice Hall, illustrating the beliefs of Voltaire

Until recently, I would never have believed that the government would make so many threats to free speech. I’m mortified at what we’re seeing right now at all levels of government.

Consider Texas A&M University regents unanimously banning Draggieland and all other drag shows on A&M campuses. Personally, the ban pleases me because I am opposed to the whole LGBTQ+ agenda. The implications of the ban, however, horrify me and they should alarm everyone who claims to support the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The LGBTQ+ community has a fundamental, inalienable right guaranteed by the Constitution to be who they want to be and live however they choose to live. The government cannot and must not ever take that freedom away from them or anyone else.

Whenever the government — and the regents serve as the government of the Texas A&M University System — places limits on the freedoms of speech and expression, it takes away a fundamental right, no matter how repulsive it may be. In this manner they begin to control thought, ideology, and personal growth and development.

Once one part of speech is hindered, other parts will follow. Today it’s Draggieland. Will Aggies for Christ take a hit tomorrow? How long before book banning takes place on campus? Will the university system no longer allow an open discourse about culture and personal beliefs and lifestyle?

This ban is symptomatic of other dangerous precedents being set at state and federal levels. The grand architects on this assault on free speech are President Donald Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and their ilk. Both men have strong-armed executive orders to disband all diversity, equality and inclusion programs without any legislative or congressional oversight or approval.

They have essentially disenfranchised those who were previously disenfranchised and downtrodden. They have limited, or in many cases eliminated, voices of dissent. They have ramrodded personal agendas at the expense of human rights. Government exists to help the populace, not fragment and segregate it.

Trump has waged war on the Constitution and its amendments from the moment he returned to office. (By the way, did you notice he refused to place his hand on the Bible during his swearing in even though he purports himself to be a Christian?)

One of his first executive orders was an unconstitutional attempt to eliminate natural birth citizenship. This just moments after swearing to uphold the Constitution! In the first days and weeks into his second presidency he issued orders and fired nearly everyone who opposed him in any of his efforts, especially his felony trials.

He pardoned those who assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump is bent on revenge and is bullying all voices of dissent or opposition to him.

In Texas, Abbott and the top tier of government have pretty much done the same. Following his acquittal, Attorney General Ken Paxton openly engaged in political vengeance against every member of the Legislature who voted against him in his corruption trial. Abbott likewise campaigned against everyone who refused to support his school voucher program in the previous Legislature.

Abbott also threatened the job of Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III via social media because a student group was planning to attend a conference that he deemed to be DEI. That’s not leadership, that’s a dictatorship.

In the Texas House this term, Republicans have prohibited Democrats from holding committee chairmanships. This stifles the voices of a significant portion of the state’s population.

All of these efforts fly in the face of Abraham Lincoln and his team of rivals. Lincoln filled his cabinet with his political opponents. It was a brilliant move that made him a much better leader and showed him to be more inclusive in one of America’s most divisive times.

These presidential and gubernatorial dictatorships of today are in stark opposition to George Washington, who was adamant that America did not need a king and sought to limit the power of the executive office.

It’s as if our “leaders” of today have decided to ignore the lessons of history and are striving to repeat them. Watching it happen is truly a drag.