Assault on the First Amendment

Spectator

Back in the 1950s, it was Minnesota Senator Joseph McCarthy and his supporters who decided the First Amendment could simply be ignored. He—and his attorney and eventual Donald Trump mentor Roy Cohn—found communists in every part of the government, including the military, and lurking behind every tree and bush. His false accusations ruined careers and lives. Now an echo of those times can be heard coming from the White House.

In one of his many directives, President Trump decided anybody speaking poorly of him must be a domestic terrorist and should be investigated. Apparently he wasn’t kidding.

On December 4, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces that she said was based on the presidential directive. She said domestic groups, organizations, and presumably individuals since they were not excluded, should be investigated, including surveillance, for domestic terrorism if they “exhibit anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity, opposition to law and immigration enforcement, radical gender ideology or hostility toward traditional views on family, religion and morality.” No word on who would judge the various offenses.

All of the above, according to Trump and his sycophants, are products of the “radical left” and “antifa.” Antifa is a favorite target, though there is no such organization. It’s just an idea with no identifiable leaders or headquarters. There are people claiming to be antifa who like to dress up in black, wear masks, throw stones, and light fires but they can be prosecuted for any actual crimes they commit.

(Some might suggest this is mighty big talk coming from Trump, who regularly lies and has been convicted of 34 criminal felonies and one civil sexual assault. Not exactly the moral high ground. And his political love affair with Vladimir Putin might qualify as anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism.)

You might have noticed there is something similar about the actions to be investigated—none of them are remotely close to being illegal and all of them are protected by the First Amendment. One assumes the courts will find a spine and put a stop to this nonsense as soon as the first case finds its way up the courthouse steps.

This comes on the heels of Trump claiming a New York Times editorial demanding the release of more Epstein files posed a “serious threat” to national security.

And that followed the president and his various cult followers claiming Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and five others, who created a video saying members of the military do not have to obey illegal orders, were engaged in seditious behavior, or in another post, “treasonous” behavior and should be prosecuted. He pointed out the penalty for treason is death.

This all happened as we started destroying boats in the Caribbean we claimed, without evidence, were carrying drugs. On at least one occasion, our attack left two survivors clinging to wreckage and either Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or an admiral gave the order to go back and kill them. Killing survivors is not something the U.S. military traditionally does, but now we do. So, in Trump world, we threaten the death penalty for half a dozen elected officials who truthfully told the military they need not obey unlawful orders.

What’s especially foolish about this is the lack of long-term thinking on the part of Trump, Bondi, and others who support these incredibly radical ideas. If their authoritarianism passes court tests, then it will surely be used against their supporters as soon as the control of Congress again changes parties, as it always does.

Everything MAGA world finds so entertaining about the presidential directive will be easily turned against them. In the crosshairs will be the liars on Fox News (they paid Dominion nearly $800 million for the repeated lies that their voting machines were somehow corrupted during the allegedly stolen election, though they admitted nothing), Tucker Carlson, Turning Point USA, the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and popular but hateful individuals like Nick Fuentes who touts Christian nationalism, white supremacy, antisemitism, misogyny, anti-LGBTQ+ views, and a love for Adolph Hitler.

In this country, we don’t punish people for their ideas or even their offensive words. We are supposed to focus on actions and if those actions are illegal. But insulting the president, even harshly or profanely, is most definitely protected speech.

Investigating groups and individuals because those in power disagree with them is anathema to more than 200 years of freedom of thought and speech in this country. McCarthyism was a stain not yet fully cleansed from our collective soul, and Trumpism, complete with what appears to be Orwellian thought police, promises to be even worse.

Of all the president’s bad ideas, this might be worst, a full assault on the First Amendment aided, abetted, and supported by folks who should know better…and who should do a quick read of 1984.

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