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by adamtaylor_13 266 days ago
Freedom of speech, not freedom from consequences. People aren't "making comments," they're celebrating the murder of a man whose opinions they disagreed with.

Many Americans are waking up to realize that a large number of people they considered friends and colleagues would revel in their death if they let their political opinions be heard.

I would 100% fire someone for celebrating murder. Sorry, call me old-fashioned, but I believe in hiring people of integrity, and I will fire you if I find out you don't have any.
2 comments
ceejayoz 266 days ago
> Freedom of speech, not freedom from consequences.

Freedom of speech requires freedom from government consequences. I have freedom of speech still if you say "I don't like your speech"; I don't have it if the cops say "I'm arresting you for your speech".

> I would 100% fire someone for celebrating murder.

And you can. You can also skip their birthday party. But "I'm glad so-and-so is dead" largely can't be a reason to, say, lose your drivers' license, social security benefits, or government employment, because the First Amendment applies to government specifically.

Facebook, Google, the grocery store, etc. have never been subject to the First Amendment.

(People can, and do, get fired for espousing Charlie Kirk's beliefs, too. That's free speech/association for you.)

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adamtaylor_13 266 days ago
> "I'm glad so-and-so is dead" largely can't be a reason to, say, lose your drivers' license, social security benefits, or government employment, because the First Amendment applies to government specifically.

Unless I'm mistaken, that's not happening. If it is, it's wrong and should be corrected.

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ceejayoz 266 days ago
In Jimmy Kimmel's case, the FCC chair threatened ABC's broadcasting licensure to pressure them to punish his (very, very mild, incidentally) protected speech.
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adamtaylor_13 264 days ago
I don't believe that the FCC threatening ABC's broadcasting license has anything to do with free speech. There were murmurs about lawsuits for defamation of character all over Twitter. I'm no lawyer, I don't claim to know if that's even possible.

But it's clear that with the emotional tension of the situation, ABC wasn't about to get itself in legal trouble over a second-rate, late-night show host.

So, while the FCC may have been threatening, we have a legal system designed to prevent such over-steps of power, should they occur. It seems pretty clear ABC wanted no part of the storm that was brewing.

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ceejayoz 264 days ago
> I don't believe that the FCC threatening ABC's broadcasting license has anything to do with free speech.

Even Ted Cruz is able to see it. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kwzgrwdd0o

And Vance is trying to play it off as a joke now: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5521172-vance-fcc-carr-ki...

> we have a legal system designed to prevent such over-steps of power

That legal system recently immunized the President from the protections.

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thorncorona 266 days ago
As the joke goes, in soviet Russia you are also free to criticize America.
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