If western governments need to keep ramping up censorship, propaganda and the persecution of journalists in order to defend western freedom and democracy, is it really freedom and democracy? And, is it worth defending? —Caitlin Johnstone

Canceling Free Speech

by C.A. Matthews

The best thing about being American, in my opinion, is The Bill of Rights. The best amendment in particular is the First Amendment and the part where it says that We the People have the right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. But Americans can’t even depend on that bit anymore, and it sucks.

Thanks a lot, fascists!

If you don’t equate free speech with our right to assemble and protest, the perhaps this recent incident involving arresting the bail fundraisers for the Cop City (Weelaunee Forest) protesters  in Atlanta won’t upset you like it does me:

Rights advocates warned Wednesday that the arrests of three board members of an Atlanta-based bail fund could mark the beginning of a new era in the United States’ treatment of peaceful protesters—one in which both demonstrators and those who support them are targeted by law enforcement.

...The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Atlanta Police Department carried out the arrests of Marlon Scott Kautz, Savannah Patterson, and Adele Maclean of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF).

The group offers financial support to people who have been arrested for protesting, including the dozens of people who have been detained for resisting the development of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, also known by critics as Cop City—a $90 million police training facility that would take up 85 acres of publicly-owned forest. From ‘Behavior of a Fascist Police State’: Legal Aid Organizers Arrested After Backing Cop City

So much for the First Amendment!

The fact of the matter is that free speech has been weaponized (Read Weaponizing Free Speech for a sample or two of what I mean). Anyone expressing an opinion that isn’t sanctioned by the status quo can expect to be censored, arrested, charged and/or thrown into jail without even the possibility of being bailed out.

To this black mark on the First Amendment and The Bill of Rights I say: God bless America! Let “freedom” ring! (Yeah, right. *cough, cough*)

We’re living in an era of “Cancel Culture.” Free speech isn’t seen so much as a right as a suggestion. If what you say doesn’t upset the powers-that-be and their sycophants and paid trolls, you’re okay, but don’t you dare express an opinion they don’t like. Oh no. They can't have critical thinkers who can read between the lines, can they?

This fascistic outlawing of protesters is not just happening in the US—it’s a worldwide phenomenon. A recent video from The Juice Media out of Australia demonstrates just how inventive a “Five-Eyes democracy” can be when it comes to squashing voices of dissent.

youtu.be/kecnSHmznic  

This short video says it well. You don’t like something your government is doing (or allowing a big corporation to do) and you and your friends get out in the streets to protest it—you’ll wind up in jail and totally bankrupt. “Cool and normal” as the Aussies say. That phrase translates to roughly, “Bend over and take it,” in American English. 

Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly have been effectively canceled. God bless… the fascists, or so it seems.

But where can we go? More importantly, why should we be forced from our homes because fascists desire endless wars for oil and want us to cooperate with the immoral death machine, a.k.a. the Military-Industrial Complex? Don’t we lovers of peace and harmony deserve to live here as much as the warmongers? 

God bless... those who don't believe the lies.  

The West sure loves to brag about its love of “freedom and democracy” and its “free press,” but it sure doesn’t act like it gives a flying Flag Day about them. Without independent journalists and media outlets, we wouldn’t have known about the jailing of the Atlanta protesters and their bail bond funders. Without the indies' reportage, we wouldn’t know about the US national security apparatus funding and endorsing coups d’etat around the globe, would we?

American reporter Gonzalo Lira is now sitting in a Ukrainian jail because of his in-depth coverage of the war in Ukraine. When asked if the US government would help free Lira, a government spokesperson wouldn’t say if US officials would even consider asking their Ukrainian counterparts for his release. Our so-called “representatives” are okay with letting a journalist rot in jail. 

No precedence there, is there? 

Meanwhile in the UK, journalists can find themselves treated like terrorists, grilled for hours, and their computer devices taken. This is what happened to The Grayzone’s Kit Klarenburg.

As soon as Journalist Kit Klarenberg landed in his home country of Britain on May 17, 2023, six anonymous plainclothes counter-terror officers detained him. They quickly escorted him to a back room, where they grilled him for over five hours about his reporting for this outlet. They also inquired about his personal opinion on everything from the current British political leadership to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. From British police detain journalist Kit Klarenberg, interrogate him about The Grayzone

Aw...the smell of “freedom and democracy” waffing in on the early summer’s air! It covers over the stench of those pesky truth-telling reporters like Kit, Gonzalo, Veronica, Matilda, and Matt. Kit might even find himself locked up at Belmarsh Prison with fellow truth-seeker Julian Assange if a judge decides he's “not a journalist.” I sincerely hope not.

This summer isn’t particularly a good time of the year for me. It’s not that I don’t enjoy sunshine and picnics, because I do. It’s just that I’m not that into American “patriotic holidays” like Memorial Day, Flag Day, or the Fourth of July. There’s not much to celebrate when your mind connects these holidays with endless wars for American hegemony, senseless killing for profits, and locking up persons who protest violence and report on war. Others simply associate these holidays with hot dog eating contests, fireworks, parades, and apple pie, but I just can't anymore. 

There’s little joy to be found in any patriotic holiday pretending to be supportive of our First Amendment rights like free speech and freedom of assembly while our so-called “elected representatives" are ripping those very rights out of the people's hands. The fascists in power have ruined things for me. I honestly can’t see myself wearing red, white, and blue and waving a little flag while watching a Independence Day parade ever again.  

I just can’t, knowing what I know. I can’t approve of the evil status quo hiding behind those once sacred symbols of the flag and The Bill of Rights. I’ll have to find myself another holiday to celebrate this time of year.

I know… Happy Bastille Day!

Related Articles and Other Insightful Links:

Honest Government Ad | Anti Protest Laws (SA) https://youtu.be/kecnSHmznic

The Crushing of Free Press Continues https://www.youtube.com/live/ggZHodvFu50

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker https://pressfreedomtracker.us/

If the Police Can Decide Who Qualifies as a Journalist, There Is No Free Press  https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/02/if-the-police-can-decide-who-qualifies-as-a-journalist-there-is-no-free-press/

British police detain journalist Kit Klarenberg, interrogate him about The Grayzone https://thegrayzone.com/2023/05/30/journalist-kit-klarenberg-british-police-interrogated-grayzone/

State Department Won’t Say If It’s Working to Free US Citizen Detained in Ukraine  https://scheerpost.com/2023/05/29/state-department-wont-say-if-its-working-to-free-us-citizen-detained-in-ukraine/

15 Reasons Why Mass Media Employees Act Like Propagandists https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/15-reasons-why-mass-media-employees

Authoritarianism Keeps Surging In Western "Free Democracies"
https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/authoritarianism-keeps-surging-in/comments

‘Behavior of a Fascist Police State’: Legal Aid Organizers Arrested After Backing Cop City https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/01/behavior-of-a-fascist-police-state-legal-aid-organizers-arrested-after-backing-cop-city-protesters/

Arrest Of Bail Fund Organizers In Atlanta Sets A Dangerous Precedent https://popularresistance.org/arrest-of-bail-fund-organizers-in-atlanta-sets-a-dangerous-precedent/

The Empire! "We're Coming For All Of You!" https://indienewsnetwork.substack.com/p/the-empire-were-coming-for-all-of/comments

Supremes Declare War on Wetlands https://scheerpost.com/2023/05/31/supremes-declare-war-on-wetlands/

Lee Camp: The Threat Of Dangerous Ideas And Why We Need Them (podcast) https://popularresistance.org/lee-camp-on-the-threat-of-dangerous-ideas-and-why-we-need-them/

Dozens of GoFundMe Users Seek Funds to Flee States Passing Transphobic Laws  https://scheerpost.com/2023/05/31/dozens-of-gofundme-users-seek-funds-to-flee-states-passing-transphobic-laws/

Nearly Half Of Earth’s Animal Species Are In Decline
https://popularresistance.org/study-nearly-half-of-earths-animal-species-are-in-decline/

Police Use Water Cannons, Mass Arrest At Extinction Rebellion Protest https://popularresistance.org/police-use-water-cannons-mass-arrest-at-extinction-rebellion-protest/

The War We’re Finally Allowed to See https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/01/patrick-lawrence-the-war-were-finally-allowed-to-see/

G7 Versus Diplomacy for Ukraine https://consortiumnews.com/2023/05/31/g7-versus-diplomacy-for-ukraine/

Drone attack on Moscow aims to escalate US-NATO war with Russia https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/05/31/furs-m31.html

China builds global alternative as US-led financial order decays
https://geopoliticaleconomy.substack.com/p/china-alternative-us-led-financial-order

FBI Reopens Assange Investigation https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/01/report-fbi-reopens-assange-investigation/

The Slow Ethnic Cleansing of Ein Samiya’s Bedouin Community
https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/01/the-slow-ethnic-cleansing-of-ein-samiyas-bedouin-community/ 

Weaponizing Free Speech https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2023/04/weaponizing-free-speech.html

Digital McCarthyism https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2023/03/digital-mccarthyism.html 

Breaking News: Dr. Cornel West Announces He is Running for President https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/dr-cornel-west-announces-he-is-running

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