The Laughing Wolf

Whoopi

While I have some mixed emotions on her being dropped by Slim-Fast, let’s cut the bull and the lies and point out that her right to free speech has not been infringed upon. The Government imposed no prior restraint, nor has the Government taken any action against her. For all that we hear how much more civilized other countries are than we rustic bumpkins, I note with interest the fact that we have few, if any, of the lese majesty laws that are still on the books and still used in those so-called bastions of civilization. Indeed, the largest problem here is that Whoopi did not exercise some prior restraint (and taste, and …) on herself. What she faces now is not an abridgement of her rights or her ability to speak freely, but the fact that free speech has consequences. Whoopi exercised her right to free speech, and is paying a price for that. This site has cost me some work, it is the price I pay for free speech here.

Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that we are free from consequences. We are free to say what we like, but we must also bear the responsibility for our speech and our actions. Free speech is never free: that right is paid for by the blood of those who die or are wounded defending it, and it is a price we pay everytime we use that right. To demand that there be no consequences to free speech does not merely cheapen the price paid, it undermines the concept of free speech – and freedom – in its entirety.

LW