Short Notes on the First Amendment and Today’s News

     The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states in full:  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
                                                                           ~
     Losing a security clearance when one no longer holds a job that requires it is not an infringement of one’s first amendment rights.  Those rights include speech, assembly, religion.  They do not include the right to be informed of national classified secrets and other information and use that to further one’s position as a partisan pundit.  Mr. Brennan is free to say his rights were infringed, but in reality they were not.
                                                                          ~
     The hysteria around “fake news” is partly fueled by a lack of clarity or agreement as to what is “news.”  Traditionally, news has been a full, fair and objective reporting of facts and noteworthy information relevant to an issue or recent event.   That was not to be confused with opinion which is someone’s view or judgement about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.  Opinion can easily become propaganda when one uses information in a biased or misleading manner in order to publicize a particular political agenda or point of view.
     Today, news and opinion are less clearly defined, nor are they separated and are rarely distinguished.  In many cases both have taken on an entertainment rather than an informative role, as well as, in some cases, a propaganda role.  The term “fake news” seems to include instances where news media present incomplete information or use weighted language and in effect present opinion while calling it news. 
     The freedom of the press includes the gathering of facts and the right to present those facts as well as to present opinions about those facts.  The problem is that one should not be presented as if it were the other.  We, as a free people, depend upon the press to keep us informed, but that information must begin with a clarity of what is objective news and what is opinion.  The press is derelict in its duties when it (whether intentionally or negligently) confuses the two.
                                                                             ~
     Freedom of peaceable assembly is not limited only to certain view points.  There is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment.   Democracy depends upon a free and full market place of ideas, even those that most of us find abhorrent.  Let all ideas be presented and have confidence that the people are capable of determining which should be accepted and which rejected.  That is freedom.
                                                                            ~
     When it comes to speech, let’s not be hypocrites; let’s have the same standards for what we will or will not find acceptable.  For example, why is it not OK for Trump to use the word “dog” when discussing Omarosa, but accepted if not celebrated when Ivanka is referred to as a c*nt, or Melania as a whore?  Why do allegedly racist comments by some result in job loss, while similar comments by others are excused?  Why are certain comments removed from social media while other, nearly identical comments are not?   Why are threats to the children of the President, his staff, and his supporters not condemned as they would be if directed at anyone else?   Why are only some people intimidated both verbally and sometimes physically when they “speak” in the form of a hat or a shirt or a bumper sticker asserting a particular political position?  The answer to questions such as these is simply that it depends upon whether the speaker and the comments are pro or anti Trump and his administration.  The chilling effect that this has on free speech is frightening!
                                                                           ~
     Let’s all just try to be more precise, articulate, and fair in our support of and discussions about speech and freedom and the first amendment.