Where is the great left/liberal support for free speech? It seems like every time we see another story about punishing people for their speech these days, it comes out of the left. They seem to have transformed from free speech advocates to people who now have a strong appetite for destruction of those who say the “wrong” things.
The latest outrage comes out of another leftist stronghold, West Hollywood. The mayor there, a petty tyrant named Lindsey Horvath, has decided she doesn’t like the things Donald Trump says, and so he won’t be able to say them in West Hollywood. She penned a letter to Trump’s campaign and an article for the Advocate, a gay news magazine, which states “As West Hollywood’s mayor, I have stated for the record that Trump’s campaign of violence and intimidation is not welcome in our city.”
Hard to know for sure exactly what that means, and so the Los Angeles Times asked for clarification: “[Y]ou’ll say he’s not welcome, or is there any consequence attached to it?” Horvath responds: “Again, we’re not trying to shut down anyone’s speech. But in the past, for example, we were approached by McCain’s presidential campaign to host an event in the city and we provided a special events permit, we made certain accommodations to allow that to happen. That’s not going to happen for the Trump campaign.”
In case there was doubt in your mind, this is an absolute admission that the mayor intends to discriminate against Donald Trump because of the things he says. This is exactly what the First Amendment and the California Constitution’s own Declaration of Rights are designed to prevent.
Is there outrage from all corners? Have you heard about this before? When some idiot city councilman from West Gooberville says something crazy and has an R next to his name, we have to hear condemnations all up the food chain or outrage ensues. Where is the outrage here? Has the California Attorney General, or U.S. Attorney issued statements or condemnations? How about Governor Brown, or Senators Boxer or Feinstein – surely they have taken Mayor Horvath to the woodshed? Crickets…
We’ve come to a point now where the left seems to have descended from unqualified support for free speech, to qualified support, to present day contempt for the free speech of others. If you don’t support speech you disagree with, then you don’t support free speech – it’s just that simple.
