Freedom of Speech: How Long Until It's Gone?

This excellent and supportive article
courtesy of Dave J.'s Wandering Ether blog.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Freedom of Speech:
How Long Until It is Gone?

Freedom of speech is constantly under attack these days. Whether we link this slow erosion of our civil liberties to the Bush administration's Patriot Act, Incumbent Protection Act, or the recent executive order that bans any protests aimed at the war in Iraq, it all boils down to one thing; with each passing day Americans are losing their right to speak freely.

In spite of these circumstances, bloggers have held fast to their beliefs, and continued to speak out against tyranny and injustice. Well, most bloggers that is. As Liberal Journal Man points out through his article Censorship In The Blogosphere, there is a dangerous game of censorship and denial being played at the moment, involving websites that call themselves liberal, and claim to be progressive.

Most notably, sites such as Daily Kos and My Left Wing have engaged in the suppression of opinions pertaining to certain realities they do not find appropriate, or don't conform with their view of the world. Noteworthy bloggers, who have been willing to voice these truths have had their comments systematically deleted, and, as was the case with Francis L. Holland, been banned.

When blogs like the Daily Kos reach such high profile notoriety that they are featured on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report in relation to catching heat on The O'Reilly Factor, I understand the reasoning behind their concern for maintaining the integrity of their sites, however, they seem to be forgetting something of great importance. Free speech is an integral component of progressive culture.

When I consider that in many cases, the Daily Kos / My Left Wing supporters have come out in droves to tar and feather anyone who goes against the grain, or who dares to speak the truth that others fear to mention, I am reminded of a line of dialog taken from a certain George Lucas film: "So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause."

If you consider yourself a liberal progressive blogger, please take a moment to read Censorship In The Blogosphere.

Editor's Note: Thanks, Dave J. The truth is mightier than the KOS.