{"id":385,"date":"2008-10-26T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2008-10-26T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.harmonicminer.com\/wordpress\/?p=385"},"modified":"2008-10-25T11:31:08","modified_gmt":"2008-10-25T18:31:08","slug":"what-free-expression-the-left-suppresses-free-speech-on-prop-8-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harmonicminer.com\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/26\/what-free-expression-the-left-suppresses-free-speech-on-prop-8-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What free expression? The Left suppresses free speech on Prop 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am voting YES on Proposition 8 in California.\u00a0 It is the Proposition to define marriage as existing only between one man and one woman.<\/p>\n

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I have several gay friends, including some who are in lifetime committed relationships, as far as I can tell.\u00a0\u00a0 I have been friends with some of them for 20 years.\u00a0 I am no kind of bigot.\u00a0\u00a0 Nevertheless, I am FOR Proposition 8.\u00a0 Many others have made the case for this, on a variety of grounds, and that isn’t my point right now.<\/p>\n

I have put up signs in several places, “YES on 8” signs that simply contain a graphic of a man, a women and couple of kids.\u00a0 That’s all the sign says.<\/p>\n

One of the signs was stolen right off my lot.\u00a0 One was stolen from near my child’s elementary school (on public land where several other political signs were on display, including signs promoting particular candidates for school board, etc.).\u00a0 It was replaced, and was stolen again within 24 hours.\u00a0 I put up another<\/em> one and it stayed unmolested for a day, then someone decided to rip the word “YES” out of the sign, but left it standing there.<\/p>\n

Many of my friends in the area where I live have had similar experiences, with signs stolen right out of their front yards, signs on public property vandalized (while all the OTHER political signs in the same place are untouched), even cars “keyed” that have YES ON 8 stickers, etc.\u00a0 And, it appears to be a statewide phenomenon, so common that the YES ON 8 website has a link for people to report stolen and vandalized signs, and order new ones.<\/p>\n

Our local newspaper has made several reports of similar events.\u00a0 This is not the work of only a few, it is the work of a great many people, to cover so much territory, and do it so fast.\u00a0 I don’t know if it’s “organized”, or is just Lefty people behaving naturally, or both.\u00a0 And I’m not sure which would be worse.<\/p>\n

It is the Left, of course, that prides itself on tolerance, free expression, etc.\u00a0 It is the Left that will claim that free speech is one of their values.\u00a0 It is the Left that babbles incoherently about “speaking truth to power”.<\/p>\n

In California, the people with the power (and the money) are large corporations, the teacher’s union, some other public employee unions, and some public\/private utilities, etc.\u00a0 THEY have come out against Proposition 8, and have spent hugely more money to defeat Prop 8 than the YES ON 8 people could ever raise.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fellow travelers of the “no on 8” crowd are the ones who have no moral compunction about denying free speech to people who can’t afford to buy lots of expensive advertising time in the media, and can’t afford to buy lots of huge billboard advertising, but CAN put up signs in their yards and communities.<\/p>\n

It is very clear exactly who is speaking truth to power.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the meantime, California isn’t the only state<\/a> having trouble with Lefties who are not in favor of free political discourse.<\/p>\n

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To those of you who are stealing the signs off my lot, don’t worry, I won’t shoot.\u00a0 But I might let the dogs loose next time, and since I only have one eye, and it isn’t very good, you might be in more danger from that.<\/p>\n

In another post, I’ll make the case that the Left fundamentally cares only about results, and has no direct moral moorings that preclude any particular method that realizes them.\u00a0 But right now I have to go get the dogs.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:\u00a0 After composing this on Friday eve, and scheduling it to come up on the blog on Sunday morning, I went for a nice long walk on Saturday morning.\u00a0 When I came back, the sign I put on the corner of my property was gone, again.\u00a0 I will never, never let any person from the Left tell me about how the Left is about tolerance of diverse viewpoints.\u00a0\u00a0 I have observed many instances of the Left shouting down the (very) rare speaker from the Right on college campuses, while the reverse virtually never occurs.\u00a0 This is my first experience with it happening on my own property, and in my own relatively rural community, however.\u00a0 Bottom line:\u00a0 the Left is about shutting up the opposition, not merely about winning the argument.\u00a0 The Left is not in favor of diversity, the Left uses diversity-speak as a tool, plain and simple. \u00a0 Pay attention.\u00a0 You will hear this material again.<\/p>\n

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