Establishment Democrats Have Different First Amendment with More Speech Rights

RNLA Executive Director Michael Thielen wrote today about how establishment Democrats have different standards for free speech for Democrats and liberals and for others (including Democrats who stray from the party line):

Representative Val Demings may be the first Democrat to admit to how the left views the First Amendment. The Florida Congresswoman replied to a critical comment by saying, “My First Amendment Right is different from yours.” Any honest political observer has to admit that this is a salvo in the war the left and Democrats are currently waging on free speech. They try their best to silence any speech that does not fit their dogma, and Demings, intentionally or not, just revealed the game plan. 

Whether it comes in the form of campuses silencing speakers who “offend” their student snowflakes or via government officials regulating elections, efforts to stop or limit opposing viewpoints should be deeply troubling to all.  Most troubling are the movements being led by Democrat lawyers and liberal law professors, the very people who traditionally have been defenders of the First Amendment. . . . The left continues to double down and stop opposing speech even among its own members.  Consider the liberal outcry against the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.  Yes, Democrats oppose integrity in the electoral system, apparently. 

Marc Elias, Hillary’s lawyer and now the lawyer of choice in Democrat fights against free speech, leveled a warning to any Democrat who serves on a commission to study vote fraud and how to make elections better. He said: “No Democrat should serve on Trump’s new voter suppression commission. Period.” Similarly, Bob Bauer, President Obama’s lawyer and Elias’ current colleague, said: “[E]lection administration experts should keep their distance” from the commission. Professor Rick Hasen, promoter of liberal talking points, wrote on his Election Law Blog “Not sure what Democrat or election professional would be on a commission” with Secretary of State Kris Kobach or former Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.  Hasen’s probably correct: it’s safe to assume few Democrats are courageous enough to cross Elias. . . . 

One wonders if the establishment left fears free speech in our electoral process so much because in a free debate, they will lose. And let’s not forget that Democrats, including Elias, are privately very concerned about ineligible voters, but only when their favored candidates’ victories are at stake. . . . Of course, that sort of intellectual discussion and competition is what establishment Democrats fear most.  Dissent is not allowed among today’s establishment Democrats, which may be why they rigged the primary to defeat Sanders and continue to fight every effort to protect the right to speak freely regardless of political party or ideology.

Liberal lawyers like Floyd Abrams and Alan Dershowitz have historically been some of the staunchest defenders of free speech, but there's a disturbing trend among Democrats and liberals to suppress free discussion and expression under the banners of (ironically) "democracy" and "tolerance."  It's even more disturbing that this anti-speech crusade extends to political speech and elections, where free speech rights are--and should be--most protected. You can read the whole article, published today, by clicking here.