The great idea of ​​America is still at stake

The United States of America recently turned 250. What a spectacle! The fireworks were amazing, and millions of proud people celebrated across the country – even around the world. France lit the Eiffel Tower; Japan had fireworks. French warplanes flew over New York City in red, white, and blue stripes – the first major ally to distinguish our colors in the sky. Right now, embarrassing white nationalists He passed through the capital of our country. This has become a world of paradoxes.

Our 250th anniversary dates back to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The Declaration was a powerful and remarkable document that still serves as the spirit of America. But the heartbeat of the country did not come until ten years later, when the Constitution was approved. That document is why I am writing this today. And we need you to protect it.

The First Amendment to the Constitution is so powerful that people around the world who live in places not covered by US law often seem to think they have the rights it enshrines. The First Amendment is our one-day theory of what constitutes a free society. It is the first treatment created by the developers of a project that they know will be imperfect and incomplete – only possible if they have the freedom to express it.

Seaside it exists today because of this great work. We believe it deeply. The First Principle helps us know that we cannot deny our freedom of speech. But journalism and speech are always under attack. This is one of the reasons why we always need lawyers even though we may have strong ethical principles in the industry.

Here’s what the First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting an establishment of religion; or limit the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to assemble peacefully, and ask the Government to resolve their grievances.

This is a compelling and beautiful concept. But we had to fight to save life from the beginning..

John Adams, one of the revolutionaries who scorned British tyranny and helped establish independence, defied the First Amendment when he became the second US president. Adams’ list of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 looks pretty Trumpian in retrospect, mistreats aliens, expands the president’s power to arrest, detain, or deport people, and perhaps most ridiculously, makes it a crime for American citizens to publish “vile and malicious” writings against the government. Adams truly loved the world he created, but he still limited the scope of his freedom.

Just after the first world war, when the First Amendment was challenged again, this time by the Supreme Court. The court’s dire message about free speech is still with us. You’ve probably heard the saying “you can’t shout ‘fire’ in a crowded stadium” – not true. Misrepresentation is a misinterpretation here very funny: Trevor Timm, inside Atlantic Oceanhe explains that the court decision to which the quote refers was actually about whether an American socialist “could be prosecuted under the Espionage Act for writing and distributing a pamphlet expressing his opposition to the recording.” It feels like it’s removed from modern themes. (Nearly a century later, the Espionage Act will be used again towards, this time, a New York Times reporter.)

Misunderstandings about the First Amendment still abound. In the foreground we see the tension between the police as the apparatus of the government interferes with their law enforcement work with dire consequences.

The police are often so bad at understanding the basic laws of America that there are now a few companies interested in people who work as “First Amendment Auditors” – people who willfully change their right to record in public to harm people in order to destroy their right to free speech. It’s easy to go down TikTok rabbit holes where you’ll find someone filming illegal parking inside their car, or a well-known cartoonist being harassed on a public road. When the police are harassing someone to exercise their rights, threats arise immediately.

At the perfect moment, a high-ranking policeman arrives and clears up the illegal behavior of his colleagues. In some cases, someone may be arrested or detained due to insufficient security.

It’s even worse than it is in 2026, because we’re now living under a government that’s flooding cities with untrained officers who view law enforcement as a threat. This has been done it caused deathassaults on the press, and the unimaginable cost to ordinary people of having to bear the burden of facing the justice system just for doing what they have the right to do. Freedom of speech and assembly is especially when it is against the government. That’s the whole point of this thing! And yet.

Recent attacks on the First Amendment have been fueled by the public to the point of law. We are being betrayed by the officials who are supposed to protect us, people who have sworn an oath to the Constitution and should know better. The FCC is not supposed to regulate speech but it has been a problem of poor performance as well suppression of human rights. Have you missed Stephen Colbert on The End Show? Thanks to the Trump administration, which is now operating as a social group that has attracted the billionaire princes who own America’s radio stations. Or ask Jimmy Kimmel, who took a hit after the nuclear conservatives made sarcastic remarks about Charlie Kirk, a man who spent his time ruining our country’s news without the grace or intelligence of the country’s talk show hosts.

The Trump administration generally has a record of being very disruptive to free speech, from science to the works of the largest social network. Donald Trump criticizes anyone who doesn’t bow to him, and the list of victims is too long to count. But here’s the kicker: The president once threatened to jail Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of life. Zuckerberg is richer and more powerful than Trump in many ways, but what did he do? Two years after the attack, Zuckerberg appeared on the White House floor to celebrate Trump’s crazy UFC fight show. He fought another bully.

This is what makes everything confusing. We live in an era dominated by media that are so rich, powerful, and pervasive that they seem out of control of the US government, but ironically they have to be loyal to a government that has no real respect for them or for them. theirs free speech. Trump once threatened to destroy the entire internet because he wanted a platform to analyze things for his benefit. The executives of those companies still love him for photo ops.

The blurring of public and private interests has fueled the “funhouse-mirror” concept of “free speech culture” that is actually designed to destroy free speech. The loudest people crying about free speech culture act like theirs It is not the most freedom in history, when one supports it reality government censorship, such as banning books.

I can’t say it better than Ken White said, so just go read him on this point. White explains how the “culture of free speech” has encouraged the Trump administration and others to conduct real investigations. “When enough people think that all free speech—including free speech law—is a sham, then free speech will not be enforced,” he wrote.

Our constitutional punchbowl has been set up by lunatics who profit from the confusion over our liberties and laws. It doesn’t have to be this way. Just remember: First Amendment is a restriction on government which prevents it that from restrict your speech.

Also: Censorship is essentially government suppression. It is understandable that we are confused about what research is because so many people have tried to confuse us. A social network that moderates your content it’s not censorship – it’s actually freedom of speech. Yes, that sounds completely contradictory, but it’s true. Instead, it is where the government forces ordinary people to publish content they don’t want, including hate speech.

Much has not been told here, including the history of great pain and suffering that has kept the First Amendment and all our freedoms alive. I won’t say that I know the solution to our current problems, but I will say that I really hate it when our leaders say things like “that’s not who we are” when they speak. precisely on the things that define who we are. And another part that we have is a union that says it wants freedom of speech in theory while at the same time suppressing it in practice.

So what can you do? Yes, voting. But there is much more to do. Write or call congresspeople (I promise this is important). Get involved your place elections, especially for school boards, which are at the forefront of book bans. And if you’re reading this, thanks for subscribing – but please consider supporting other newsrooms.