Re: THE MSM IS SILENCING CONSERVATIVES!

Lately, I've heard a lot of complaints about how the "MSM" and "liberal media" are refusing to acknowledge the "very real" upwelling of anger in America against health care reform. Leaving aside the fact that over half the protests out there are the result of Astroturfing, I feel nothing but approval and solidarity when a journalist takes a few seconds to speak against the Hobbesian mobs.

Journalists are obligated to accurately report on an event; they are not obligated to support or denounce it. And while editorialization can be taken to extremes (i.e. Keith Olbermann), as long as the opinions are deeply respectful of and rooted in reality, it remains in the realm of journalism. However, once facts are subverted by ideology, and opinion is disconnected from reality, then we move into the realm of propaganda (i.e. Fox News, Limbaugh). Not to follow this tangent too far, but Hunter S. Thompson is required reading to truly appreciate the fine line between journalism and ideological fantasy.

Anyway, the main point is that telling someone "You're wrong, and here's why" is not suppressing free speech. That's a conversation between equals. Suppression of free speech is when someone says "You're wrong, and you should not be allowed to voice your opinion". Conversely, opining that someone will bankrupt the country or destroy the free market is free speech, but accusing them of being a “treasonous nigger” is hate speech and calling for their immediate execution would be an example of "fighting words". Neither of these types of speech are protected under the 1st Amendment.

The Founders were big on debate, and they were fully aware that a conversation among strong wills with differing opinions frequently became heated. However, they recognized - and the Supreme Court has since maintained - that some speech isn't aimed at changing opinions or advancing ideas, but rather poisoning the entire conversation. When the conversation dies, the suspicion arises, the differences between factions become more bitter, and democracy dies.

Furthermore, even when the deathers, birthers and other crazies have danced upon the thin line between free-speech and attempting to incite a riot, have they been silenced? During the Bush years, when liberals and progressives marched, we were labeled traitors and collaborators, more willing to cooperate with some vague “enemy” then march in unthinking lockstep with the GOP. When we called for an investigation of Bush’s lies over WMD and torture, we were allowed airtime on some channels, but any attempt to insert these protests into Republican rallies universally resulted in ejection. During the RNC in New York, peaceful protestors were beaten and arrested after plainclothes cops started throwing things at the riot police, in order to excuse an overwhelming response. Set against this backdrop, I have to ask conservatives; how can you possibly think that *you* are being silenced?

Are we banning you from screaming incendiary remarks at otherwise peaceful and useful town halls?

Are we using cops to arrest you, even when you show up at demonstrations with fully automatic weapons, and claim it’s ‘for protection’ from unarmed liberal demonstrators?

Are we in any way limiting your freedoms, save by stating - quite rationally - that accusing progressives of using living wills as precursors to 'death panels' is unhelpful?

Are we denying you free speech when we say that that labeling an educational encouragement from the presidential level as 'socialist indoctrination' constitutes fear-mongering?

Are we doing anything but stating the truth when we say conservatives are not fully aware of the situation when they claim fear of ‘government rationing’, when insurance companies regularly rescind people whom they deem as no longer profitable?

Progressives are depressed because it's not possible to work with someone who is not interested in conversation, but confrontation. We’re scared because there are screaming mobs calling our political view treason, and traitors deserve death. We’re angry because we believe in democracy, but whenever we try to exercise it, the other side starts talking about succession and violence. We’re confused because we’re living in a country where one side of the aisle thinks that freedom of speech means they get to talk, we get to listen, and any attempt at conversation is a violation of their natural, eternal and divinely mandated supremacy. We're nihilistic because a significant part of our country is not bound by logic, is unaffected by cognitive dissonance, and does not acknowledge history, evidence or causality.

How can we believe in any future for this country, when the emerging base of the Republican Party believes that Fascism is Communism, Education causes Ignorance, and Civil Rights means Slavery?