Has the First Amendment Been Weaponized?
The New York Times decided to run an op-ed as if it were a straight news piece and place it on their front page. The topic of this front-page opinion piece was how conservatives have taken one of our God-given rights, (one specifically listed in our Bill of Rights) and turned it into a weapon. Adam Liptak used nearly 2000 words to explain how conservatives use the First Amendment to justify unlimited campaign spending, discrimination against gay couples, and attacks on the regulation of tobacco, pharmaceuticals, and guns among other exaggerations and “high crimes” as seen through the eyes of leftists.
There are, of course, a few points missing from Liptak’s indictment against both the recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and conservative Americans in general. The first is that the leftist in this nation have fought to dismantle the Constitution since its conception. The second, the American left attacks and demonizes conservatives whenever a chance has presented itself. The third point, when they lose an argument, they work to re-define the rules of engagement (sometimes the language itself).
The modern American left wants the Constitution ripped apart, bit by bit, because of what its purpose happens to be-limit what power they may claim. The Constitution was written to list exactly what each branch of the government is allowed to do. The intent was to establish where the powers of the federal government end so that the remaining power stayed in the hands of the states and more importantly the people. And to also establish a balance of power between the branches of the federal government which, in theory, would work as a stop-gap to prevent the rise of tyranny.
The modern American left has fully adopted the teachings of Saul Alinsky. Not the least of which is to shape public opinion by making opposing voices seem so cruel and heartless that one is tempted to wonder if conservatives are human at all. Isolate and demonize the enemy to get others to control them (the crowd, constituents, twitter trolls, etc.). In the process, they hide behind words like compromise, and common sense so that they can paint themselves as “the reasonable ones.” while using incrementalism to march ever closer to their goals. After all, if they start at the far left and you start at the far right then you meet in the middle, you have compromised. But once you have compromised, they move even further to the left and begin fighting again. Then your starting point is no longer the far right, it is what was the middle, but you are still the villain if you refuse to “Compromise.”
Regardless what the argument may be, leftist love rules-until they no longer benefit them. Whether it’s changing voting rules in the Senate, having the President write Executive Orders instead of passing legislation, what the definition of “is” is it’s the same in Congress, the media, on college campuses, to the streets filled with SJWs and Antifa what is considered right or justifiable behavior swings more wildly than an Edger Allen Poe pendulum depending on who is saying or doing what.
That brings us back to the question at hand. Has the First Amendment been weaponized? The leftist desperately wants the rest of us to forget that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights ARE weapons. They are defensive weapons for the citizens of our constitutionally federated republic to defend ourselves from tyranny. Tyranny from the government and (in the words of Ed Brodow) from the minority which has become adept at bulling their political adversaries, while the whole time they claim to be working to end bullying. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are weapons that we should often use because failure to use these weapons means not only an effort to strip away our God-given rights but also the loss of our Republic.
