By Ray Cardello for October 31, 2023, Season 22 / Post 46

Reference any of the Amendments of the Bill of Rights, and you can maybe find one that the Left has not shredded in three years, seven if you include Obama’s crew. I think the Third is the only one unscathed, but instead of housing the Military, we have made them homeless. The efforts of the Left are not even subtle. They are thrashing our rights, and the populace is rolling over with no fight. Before I proceed, I have to admit that I took a knife to the Second Amendment last week after the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine.

My concession that the Second Amendment is not absolute is based on mental illness being a common denominator in mass shootings in this country. Anyone who can kill someone, let alone the killing of a large group of anonymous people, is suffering from a defect in their mental makeup. Gun ownership comes with responsibilities that you must be a clear thinker to understand. If we can stop the indiscriminate killing of innocent people by suspending gun ownership for anyone proven to have mental challenges, then I think it must be done. It pains me to say it, but the Second Amendment may not be absolute.

This week, I have rethought my support of the First Amendment. I am not talking about censorship by an individual, company, or organization. I am certainly not talking about the government colluding with the press, media, or social media to influence content in any fashion. When the government restricts free speech to enhance their positions, you have lost your free country. These types of violations of the First Amendment can never be allowed.

The big “but’ is when the speech we are looking to protect is Hate Speech, and it is supporting and encouraging the death and extermination of a group of people. That group may be a nationality or a religion, but there has to be some provision to protect them from the actions motivated by the words of antagonists and protestors. We’ve talked about the college protests, and I contend many of these students are ignorant of the facts of the Israel/Hamas conflict. At Cornell, a professor is on leave after he riled up a crowd of students with his exhilaration watching Hamas butcher Jews in Israel. Leave of absence? Why is he still employed?

Jewish students who commingled with their fellow students are now feeling unsafe and threatened on American campuses. These protestors are a small percentage of the base, but how many does it take to harm a young Jewish co-ed? Look at the group of rioters in Russia going through a terminal looking to gather up Israelis who may have landed on a jet from Tel Aviv. God only knows what a hyped-up gang would have done if they found their prey. Thank God they came up empty.

Our Justice Department and FBI had no issue going after parents at school board meetings, calling them Domestic Terrorists. Where are those agents now when real terrorists are traumatizing American campuses? These protests and riots are not Free Speech, but Hate Speech and we cannot condone their rhetoric in the name of First Amendment rights. It hurts me to go after another Amendment, but it will be more painful if one Jewish student is injured or killed.