December 19, 2013 by David K. Sutton
Sarah Palin Doesn’t Understand How Free Speech Works
Sarah Palin doesn’t understand how free speech works, and this isn’t the first time she’s displayed obtuseness on intolerance and First Amendment rights.
I really don’t care about the backstory that led up to Palin’s remarks, but if you care you can read about it here. I will offer a quick summary. A reality TV (dare I say) “star” by the name of Phil Robertson (of the show “Duck Dynasty”) was suspended indefinitely by A&E after he made remarks in a recent GQ article were extremely homophobic and just plain offensive.
So who comes to his defense? Sarah Palin of course:
Sarah Palin – Timeline Photos — Free speech is an endangered species. Those “intolerants” hatin’ and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us.
Free speech means Robertson can say what he wants, but it also means people are free react to Robertson’s offensive comments. If someone in a high profile position is a bigoted asshole and makes it known to the world, the world is free to respond. Free speech works both ways. But moreover, the First Amendment only protects your speech from government censorship. A private company is free to suspend you if they do not like what you had to say in a GQ article or just about anywhere actually, particularly if they believe the comments will reflect poorly on the company. And lastly, there’s nothing to defend here. People reacted to his homophobic comments as you would expect. But in Sarah Palin’s world, you are intolerant when you respond to the comments of an intolerant bigoted asshole.
