  Essay: Free Speech, Hate Speech, & Censorship: Winning the 2020 Elections~ This essay was the basis of a public speech given on August 15, 2019 in Cumberland, Maine, co-hosted by the Gray and Cumberland Republican Town Committees. Brown is the Chairman of the Gray Republican Committee. You can view that speech here. Aug 29, 2019  Table of Contents
The Status of Freedom in 2019
What a fine group of men and women are gathered here tonight! You are all stellar examples of masculinity and femininity and are wonderful representatives of the human race. I’ve just broken some politically correct taboos by using those words, and in some venues I would be censored or castigated. How many of you have been censored? I have, when Twitter locked my account for tweeting:
Note that when I say “leftist” I do not mean “liberal.” Liberals are generally good-hearted people who love freedom. Leftists do not love freedom for all people. I violated Twitter’s “hateful conduct” policy, so I removed the post, and my account was unlocked. In addition, I, and huge numbers of conservatives, including President Trump, are being “shadow banned” by Twitter, which means that Twitter prevents your tweets from being seen by your followers. How many of you self-censor, with relatives, friends, or at your workplace? I know that I have. Self-censorship is endemic around the world. In Germany, only eighteen percent of survey respondents agreed that it was “possible to express oneself freely in public.”1 So, let’s look at the status of freedom in 2019. At colleges, institutions, and town governments across the country, large numbers of commonsense words are being heavily discouraged or banned, including:
Non-binary, preferred pronouns are becoming mandatory in schools and teachers are being told to stop addressing students as “boys and girls.”3 In the city code of Berkeley, California, manholes are becoming “maintenance holes.” Man-made will become “human-made.” She, her, he, and him will be replaced by “they” and “them.”4 The list of offensive words is growing longer every day. Politically correct speech is “Newspeak” by another name. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, Syme, a specialist in Newspeak, meets the protagonist Winston and explains the rise of Newspeak. Here are three excerpts of his remarks:
Thirty years from now, in 2050, Orwell’s prediction via Syme’s words has a very strong chance of coming true, because language, thought, speech, and religious beliefs and practices are giving ground to totalitarian forces around the world and are being heavily eroded in America, the last, best hope for freedom. More and more social opinions are verboten and history is being rewritten. Statues of significant, historical men are being torn down and white, Christian men, both old and young, are the new villains in the Left’s efforts to divide and conquer the human race.6 Eight-year-old, cute-as-a-button Miss Ava Martinez received death threats on the family phone line because of her “Mini AOC” video parodies of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Her parents have deleted her social media accounts to protect her from the hateful left.7 Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson recently declared:
Reza Aslan, the Islamist supremacist, former CNN contributor, and cannibal who ate human brain tissue in India, tweeted on August 4, 2019:
Twitter has not removed his tweet for violating their hate speech policies. Restrictions on free speech, religious beliefs, and opinions have morphed into full-blown restrictions on civil rights, based on identity politics. Today, leftists and radical Democrats continue to be fully committed to the denial of civil rights to groups of individuals whom they despise. Instead of building “Colored-Only” lunch counters, Leftists today are removing the lunch counters altogether. Conservatives are being censored and kicked off Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo, Amazon, WordPress, and other web hosting platforms. They’re being rejected by hotels, banks, credit card companies, payment processors, restaurants, services like Eventbrite, and even Uber and Lyft. 12 13 The Left’s attacks on free speech and its attendant civil rights are global, rapid, comprehensive, and powerful. =>>> Read the rest of the essay at peterfalkenbergbrown.com. Endnotes1 https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14362/germany-self-censorship 2 https://www.thecollegefix.com/heres-the-truth-about-colorado-state-universitys-inclusive-language-guide/ 3 https://www.breitbart.com/education/2019/08/05/american-university-moves-to-mandate-use-of-preferred-pronouns/ 4 http://www.gopusa.com/man-forbidden-berkeley-adopts-gender-neutral-language-in-city-code/ 5 http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021h.html 6 https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/dec/12/shakespeare-portrait-at-university-of-pennsylvania/ 7 https://patriotpost.us/articles/64119-mini-aoc-silenced-by-death-threats 8 https://gellerreport.com/2019/07/dem-vows-criminalize-those-who-mock-congress.html/ 9 https://twitter.com/rezaaslan/status/1158160628592209920 10 https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/06/what-took-them-so-long-cnn-fires-reza-aslan-after-he-called-trump-piece-of-st 11 https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/03/reza-aslan-eats-human-brains-but-its-unlikely-to-help 12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3LM9yrHVws 13 https://gellerreport.com/2019/08/breitbart-news-eventbrite-blacklists-pamela-geller.html/
We really appreciate feedback. If you liked this content, let us know, by sending us an email. Thanks! (Comments are moderated and must be approved.)   EventsFree Speech, Hate Speech, & Censorship: Winning the 2020 ElectionsAs a conservative have you been censored online or anywhere else? Have you self-censored your words to avoid being called a bigot or hater? Are you worried about what censorship might do to the 2020 elections? If so, you need to attend this very timely and informative program!May 8, 2019 Public Speech: The Immigration Crisis on the Southern Border3/28/19: Homeland Security Nielsen:Immigration System in “system-wide meltdown.” Questions: 1. Should the Mexican border be completely open like the border between Maine and New Hampshire, so that millions can immigrate at will into the United States? 2. Should we ignore the border crossings of drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members, and jihad terrorists? Cumberland/Gray Republicans will Meet to Choose Nominee for House District #45 Special ElectionPer the proclamation recently signed by Governor Janet Mills and Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, the REPUBLICANS in the Towns of Cumberland and Gray must meet to choose the Republican nominee for Maine House District #45 Special Election to be held on June 11, 2019.NewsTwin City Times (Lewiston & Auburn, Maine) reports on Free Speech EventThe Twin City Times, a weekly paper covering Lewiston and Auburn, Maine, as well as surrounding areas, featured a report about the “Free Speech, Hate Speech, & Censorship: Winning the 2020 Elections” event that was co-hosted by the Gray and Cumberland Republican Town Committees.Press Release: Thirty-four Republican and conservative co-sponsors host public event on “Free Speech, Hate Speech, & Censorship: Winning the 2020 Elections”Here's a PDF of our Press Release on our Free Speech Event.Gray Republican Committee YouTube ChannelThe Gray Republican Committee now has a YouTube Channel!The Maine Heritage Policy Center Invites YOU to the "Guns & Issues" EventConservative activists across the state are gathering on Saturday, May 11 at Lake Region High School for a "Guns & Issues" event to keep activists up to date on the legislature's activity this session."KC" Kevin C. Hughes: House District 45 Special Election (June 11, Cumberland and Gray)I know running during this special election for the #45 Legislative Seat will be a challenge. But these are challenging times…. My personal experience running a small family business for almost 30 years has taught me about hard work. Our company would not have survived without keeping our heads down and grinding it out every single day. |
Peter Falkenberg Brown has been a Republican for many years. He was raised in Portland, Maine on the West End. His seventh great grandfather William Browne arrived in Boston (from Scotland) in the 1650s, and his third great grandfather Jonathan Brown was born in Hallowell, Maine in 1776.