Tag Archives: Free Speech

Ministry Sues SPLC for Calling It a “Hate Group”

Friday, 25 August 2017 05:34

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, August 24, 2017:

English: Southern Poverty Law Center. Montgome...

Southern Poverty Law Center. Montgomery, Alabama.

Citing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the National Center for Life and Liberty of the D. James Kennedy Ministries (DJKM) filed suit against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on Tuesday for “trafficking in false or misleading descriptions of the services offered under the ministry’s trademarked name; and for defamation pursuant to Alabama common law arising from the publication and distribution of information that libels the ministry’s reputation and subjects the ministry to disgrace, ridicule, odium, and contempt in the estimation of the public.”

Frank Wright, the CEO of the ministries, explained why it is suing the SPLC:

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Texas Instructor Protests Campus Carry by Wearing Helmet and Body Armor to Class

Tuesday, 15 August 2017 05:32

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, August 14, 2017:

Rather than resigning or noisily transferring to another, more “enlightened” school, or filing a frivolous lawsuit, geography instructor Charles K. Smith protested Texas’ new campus carry freedom by showing up on the first day of class wearing — ready? — a helmet and a bullet-resistant vest! Smith teaches at San Antonio College.

His foolishness made the papers, and he took full advantage of the publicity, claiming the new law somehow puts him at risk:

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Another Kansas Prof Declares Herself Mentally Ill and Retires

Thursday, 15 June 2017 05:49

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, June 14, 2017:

schoolDeborah Ballard-Reisch’s letter to the president of Wichita State University (WSU) announcing her unexpected retirement certainly sounded reasonable:

Dear President [John] Bardo,

I am grateful for the amazing opportunity I’ve had for the 10 years I’ve spent at Wichita State University. Serving as the Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Chair in Strategic Communication / Professor, Elliott School of Communication has been an honor and a pleasure. I have found dedicated colleagues, an administration supportive of faculty innovation, and motivated and engaged students who have inspired me.

But then she admitted that she had good reasons for leaving:

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Another Kansas Professor Leaves Over Campus Carry Law

Wednesday, 14 June 2017 05:35

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, June 13, 2017:

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Deborah Ballard-Reisch, serving as the Kansas Health Foundation’s distinguished chair in strategic communication at Wichita State University (WSU) for the last 10 years, resigned last week. In her letter to WSU’s President John Bardo, she said she’s retiring because “the climate in Kansas [is] more and more regressive, repressive, and in opposition to the values of higher education,” adding:

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Whistleblowers Ask Trump to Drop Investigation Into WikiLeaks

Thursday, 18 May 2017 00:48

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, May 17, 2017:

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The Courage Foundation released a letter on Monday signed by more than 100 free speech activists (including Noam Chomsky and Edward Snowden) asking President Donald Trump to drop his administration’s investigation into Julian Assange and his organization WikiLeaks.

The Courage Foundation funds legal defense for whistleblowers and journalists such as Assange and Snowden. The letter presses the point that the real issue is freedom of the press under the First Amendment:

The threat to WikiLeaks escalates a long-running war of attrition against the great virtue of the United States: free speech. The Obama Administration prosecuted more whistleblowers than all presidents combined and opened a Grand Jury investigation into WikiLeaks that had no precedent….

It is reported that charges, including conspiracy, theft of government property and violating the Espionage Act are being considered against members of WikiLeaks, and that charging WikiLeaks Editor, Julian Assange, is now a priority of the Department of Justice.

This refers to Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ comments during his visit to the southern border last month:

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Disgruntled Professor Quits, Using Concealed Carry in His Classroom as His Excuse

Saturday, 13 May 2017 05:15

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, May 12, 2017:

In a fit of pique, KU associate professor Jacob Dorman decided to burn his bridges behind him when he left the faculty last week. Instead of packing up in the middle of the night, he chose instead to have his resignation letter published in the Topeka Capital-Journal. It was an infantile move that he is likely to regret for years to come.

He used Kansas’ new constitutional carry freedom as cover:

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KU Professor Quits Over Concealed Carry in his Classroom

Friday, 12 May 2017 05:21

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, May 11, 2017:

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An associate professor of history and American studies at the University of Kansas (KU) loudly announced his departure from the faculty after 10 years by having his resignation letter published on May 5 by the Topeka Capital-Journal. Wrote associate professor Jacob Dorman:

In light of the state of Kansas’ apparent determination to allow the concealed carry of firearms in the classrooms of the University of Kansas, I am writing to tender my resignation effective two weeks from today as an associate professor of history and American studies at the university. I have accepted a job in a state that bans concealed carry in classrooms.

This was no “apparent determination” by state legislators. For years the issue of constitutional carry has been debated in Topeka and under a compromise bill the issue of concealed carry by students on campus was resolved by allowing them to carry concealed effective July 1.

But according to Dorman, this new freedom somehow weakens the education those 28,400 students are currently getting at KU’s five campuses (Lawrence, Kansas City, Overland Park, Wichita, and Salina):

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Churches Oppose Repeal of the Johnson Amendment

Friday, 21 April 2017 05:44

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, April 20, 2017:

Part of a letter sent to top members of Congress earlier this month and signed onto by 99 churches says: “The charitable sector, particularly houses of worship, should not become another cog in a political machine or another loophole in campaign finance laws.”

Pushback to President Donald Trump’s promises to repeal the Johnson Amendment was expected from the American Humanist Association and American Atheists, and he got it. But from Baptists?

Trump said at a campaign event in Virginia in October, “I think [the Johnson Amendment is] very unfair, and one of the things I will do very early in my administration is to get rid of [it] so that our great pastors and ministers, rabbis … and priests and everybody can go and tell and participate in the [political] process.”

This became part of the Republican Party’s platform:

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Trump: Repeal Johnson Amendment That Muzzles Pastors

Saturday, 10 September 2016 05:30

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Friday, September 9, 2016:

On Friday, at the Family Research Council’s convention in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump is expected to reiterate his call to repeal the Johnson Amendment, in line with a similar call in the GOP platform.

During his acceptance speech, Trump thanked the evangelical community for their support, adding:

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GOP Platform: Repeal the “Johnson Amendment” Inhibiting Pastors’ Free Speech

Monday, 25 July 2016 12:36

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, July 25, 2016:

The week before he was to give his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last Thursday, Donald Trump phoned the president of Liberty University to tell him that the GOP’s platform called for repeal of the “Johnson Amendment.” Said Jerry Falwell, Jr.:

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Where is This “Safe Space” Yale Students are Preparing for?

Thursday, 12 November 2015 06:17

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, November 11,2015:

English: "A Front View of Yale-College, a...

“A Front View of Yale-College, and the College Chapel, New-Haven, printed by Daniel Bowen from a woodcut.

Yale University adopted the first section of the Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression at Yale back in 1975 as official policy, and has continued to abide by it, at least up until last Friday. Apparently, claims for a “safe space” for students is now the rule at Yale: no dissenting opinions, no contrarian points of view, no First Amendment rights.

Named for the committee’s chairman, C. Vann Woodward, the final paragraph of that now defunct policy reads:

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Yale Students Protest Free Speech Conference, Spit on Presenters

Wednesday, 11 November 2015 06:09

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, November 10, 2015:

View image | gettyimages.com

In a remarkable example of unrestrained infantile anger, a Yale student rushed to the front of a lecture hall last Friday where a conference on free speech was being held, disrupted the meeting, failed to end his shenanigans when other more mature students called for him to sit down, and then challenged a police officer who asked him to leave, shouting, “You’re going to have to carry me out!” The officer happily obliged.

Police at a free speech conference? At Yale, the home of free speech and the Woodward Document of 1975 that has been adopted by Yale as official policy for 40 years?

Apparently the exercise of free speech at Yale encompasses only free speech of which radicals approve.

Hundreds of student protesters gathered outside the hall where the Fifth Annual Conference on Free Speech was being presented by the William F. Buckley, Jr. Program. The title this year was “The Future of Free Speech: Threats in Higher Education and Beyond.” The presenters — 14 worthies from across the political spectrum — and the audience on Friday got an instant preview of just what that future looked like.

The conference came at a bad time.

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FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules are ObamaCare for the Internet

Saturday, 07 February 2015 06:46

This article first appeared at The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, February 6, 2015:

View image | gettyimages.com

If the real intentions behind the benign phrase “net neutrality” were truly exposed, the conversation would be very short. As Will Durant noted in his The Story of Philosophy:

“If you wish to converse with me,” said Voltaire, “define your terms.” How many debates would have been deflated into a paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms! This is the alpha and omega of logic, the heart and soul of it, that every important term in serious discourse shall be subjected to the strictest scrutiny and definition. It is difficult, and ruthlessly tests the mind; but once done it is half of any task.

Opponents in the freedom fight have for years used obfuscation and false front words to advance their cause, but none more effectively than its term “net neutrality.” How could anyone object to that?

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Sign Discrimination Case Headed to Supreme Court

Saturday, 27 December 2014 06:41

This article first appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Friday, December 26, 2014:

View image | gettyimages.com

Because his church changes its location fairly often, Pastor Clyde Reed in Gilbert, Arizona, puts up four directional signs for his parishioners to follow in getting to church on Sundays. Under Gilbert’s rule, the signs may not exceed six square feet, may not be placed before 10:00 p.m. Saturday night, and must be removed by noon on Sunday.

However, those wanting to make an ideological statement may put up signs up to 20 square feet in size and leave them up permanently. Those seeking to make a political statement, urging Gilbertians to vote, may have signs up to 32 square feet that are allowed to stay up four and a half months before an election and 15 days afterwards. If a homeowner association wants to announce an event, it’s allowed a sign up to 80 square feet in size for 30 days before the event and 48 hours afterward.

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Pastors Preaching Politics: Still No Word From IRS

Wednesday, 05 November 2014 06:50

This article first appeared at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, November 4, 2014:

The Alliance Defending Freedom’s invitation to pastors to exercise their First Amendment rights by speaking truth to power — and offering political advice and counsel to their flocks from their pulpits — has taken on a life of its own. Sunday, October 7 was designated by the ADF as Pulpit Freedom Sunday, during which it encouraged pastors to “use [their] sermon[s] to apply Scripture to the stated positions of [political] candidates.”

It noted that a “pastor has a constitutional right to apply Scripture and Church teaching to every area of life, including the area of candidates and elections.”

The ADF is clearly hoping that these pokes in the eye of the IRS will provoke a response, yet to date

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Gadsden Flag Carries Clout in Ocala

Saturday, 13 September 2014 05:25

This article was first published at The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, September 12, 2014:

Illustration from High School textbook printed...

Illustration from High School textbook printed in 1885, titled “History of the US”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Gadsden flag of a coiled rattlesnake on a bright yellow field with the words “Don’t tread on me” beneath it was designed by American General Christopher Gadsden in 1775 during the American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin explained what the flag meant to Americans then:

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Display of Gadsden Flag Quashed by Ocala, Florida, Authorities

Friday, 12 September 2014 05:29

This article was first published at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, September 11, 2014:

The Gadsden flag

The Gadsden flag

When Keith Greenberg, the owner of a sporting goods store named the Gear Barrel, moved to Florida from Chicago in May, he said it was because he felt his rights were being “stomped on” in Illinois and preferred living and working in “freedom-loving Florida.” One of the first freedoms he decided to exercise was his First Amendment right to advertise his patriotism by hanging the Gadsden flag — a yellow banner with a picture of a rattlesnake and the words “Don’t Tread on Me” — in front of his store. In August, he received a letter from the city claiming that

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Incorporation Doctrine Leaves District Court Judge in Never-Never Land

Monday, 11 August 2014 15:27

This article was first published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, August 11, 2014:

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments...

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659)

Judge James A. Parker of the District Court of New Mexico ruled against the tiny town of Bloomfield, New Mexico, last week, giving the city until September 20th to remove a five-foot-high, 3,000-pound monument celebrating the 10 Commandments from in front of its city hall.

The judge admitted that, thanks to incorporation and the resulting judicial confusion emanating from rulings that the Fourteenth Amendment applies the Bill of Rights to the states as well as to the federal government, he was on his own:

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Dinesh D’Souza Pleads Guilty, Claims Selective Prosecution

Wednesday, 21 May 2014 09:57

Cover of "The Roots of Obama's Rage"

Cover of The Roots of Obama’s Rage

When Federal District Judge Richard Berman ruled that Dinesh D’Souza, co-producer of the documentary film 2016: Obama’s America, had provided no evidence that he was selectively prosecuted for arranging campaign contributions to a friend in 2012, D’Souza had no other defense. In his plea bargain with Berman on Tuesday, D’Souza pleaded guilty to one of the two counts in the indictment, saying:

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The Supreme Court Passes on an Opportunity to Defend Freedom

Sunday, 04 May 2014 11:44

Call to Action! National Defense Authorization...

Call to Action! National Defense Authorization Act (S.1867) Makes America a Police State! (g1a2d0077c1) (Photo credit: watchingfrogsboil)

This article first appeared at The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, May 2, 2014:

Rarely does the Supreme Court have the opportunity to rectify major wrongs and mend egregious infringements coming from an out-of-control federal government: wrongs so outrageous that they threaten the very basis of society, so extreme that they risk emasculating and eviscerating the legal basis of an ordered existence, so far-reaching that they neutralize major amendments contained in the Bill of Rights.

On Monday, April 28, the Court had that opportunity, and they whiffed.

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