Darrell Castle talks about the fate of the First Amendment, especially the freedom of Americans to speak their minds without running their thoughts through a government-controlled censor. Transcription/Notes: THE ANTI-FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 11th day of October in the year of our Lord 2024. I will be talking about what is perhaps the most important issue on the ballot this November and that is the fate of the First Amendment especially the freedom of Americans to speak their minds without running their thoughts through a government-controlled censor. Should the federal government be the arbiter of what the public should be able to read or hear. That is the question I will talk about especially how some prominent Democrats have answered that question. Some of the richest and most powerful people on planet earth are now calling for Americans to be censured. That word sounds so benign that it has to be defined before it has any impact. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that the government can not legally prevent Americans from speaking their minds or expressing their opinions verbally or in print. In other words, the government is not legally permitted to censor us. That is the basic foundation of free people and it is the First Amendment for a reason. Hillary Clinton seems to have taken the lead in the campaign to restrict our freedom and she has taken her efforts globally by encouraging other countries to restrict the speech of their citizens. She recently asked European governments to censor Elon Musk because he permitted unregulated speech on X. She also went on CNN to talk about how discouraging it is that censorship is such a tough sell to the American people. She said the road the anti-free speech advocates have traveled on has been a rocky and difficult one. “There are people who are championing it, but it has been a long and difficult road to getting anything done.” Yes, I can see why all those anti-freedom Democrats have had such a difficult time because it is not easy to convince free people to give up their freedom. I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said that to be considered a great man one has to free enslaved men or enslave free men so I suppose we are back to fighting those battles again. She is not the only one of course, only the point person for the effort. Even NPR has gotten on the anti-free speech, anti-truth bandwagon. The new CEO of NPR wants to get things done it seems but truth sometimes gets in the way. Yes, those Democrats want to get things done and the pesky First Amendment stands there as an impediment to their noble efforts. This argument goes right to the heart of the cultural and spiritual war now raging in the West. Do you believe truth and freedom are a priority or just a hindrance to getting things done. To quote the new CEO of NPR; “Our reverence for the truth might be a distraction getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done.” Well, I don’t think I would like walking on a common ground built on lies but that seems to be what he wants. That’s a mild position compared to what some other prominent Democrats have been saying. So, perhaps the most important issue in this coming election is whether or not we as Americans will protect the Constitution and its guarantee of freedom or whether we will surrender to the one party, one mindset that many Democrats are trying to build. Given the control that mainstream media has over information, the freedom to speak our minds in opposition, especially on social media is vital. Things are bad around the world right now with wars, famines, and other such government instituted madness, but as long as we are free we have at least a fighting chance so of course, the enemies of freedom are working overtime to take that away from us. John Kerry, speaking to the World Economic Forum:
