The defense of free speech by Vice President J.D. Vance in Munich, Germany, has led to open panic on the left in fighting to maintain European censorship and speech criminalization. The response of the American press and pundits was crushingly familiar. From CBS News to members of Congress, Vance (and anyone who supports his speech) was accused of using Nazi tactics. It is the demonization of dissent.
In one of the most bizarre examples, CBS anchor Margaret Brennan confronted Secretary of State Marco Rubio over Vance’s support for free speech given the fact that he was “standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide.”
The suggestion that free speech cleared the way for the Holocaust left many scratching their heads, but it is an old saw used by the anti-free speech community, particularly in Germany.
When they came to power, the Nazis moved immediately to crack down on free speech and criminalize dissent. They knew that free speech was not only the “indispensable right” for a free people, but the greatest threat to authoritarian power.
Figures like Brennan appear to blame free speech for the rise of the Nazis because the Weimar Constitution protected the right of Germans, including Nazis, in their right to speak. However, the right to free speech was far more abridged than our own First Amendment. Indeed, it had many of the elements that the left has pushed in Europe and the United States, including allowing crackdowns on disinformation and fake news.
Article 118 of the Weimar Constitution, guaranteed free speech but added that it must be “within the limits of the general laws.” It did not protect statements deemed by the government as factually untrue and speech was actively regulated.
Indeed, Hitler was barred from speaking publicly. It was not free speech that the Nazis used to propel their movement, but the denial of free speech. They portrayed the government as so fearful and fragile that it could not allow opposing views to be stated publicly.
This ridiculous and ahistorical spin also ignores the fact that other countries like the United States had both fascist movements and free speech, but did not succumb to such extremism. Instead, free speech allowed critics to denounce brownshirts as hateful, dangerous individuals. To blame free speech for the rise of the Nazis is like blaming the crimes of Bernie Maddoff on the use of money.
Nevertheless, before the last election, the left was unrelenting in accusing those with opposing views as being Nazis or fascists. During the election, it seemed like a one-answer Rorschach test where Democrats saw a Nazi in every political inkblot.
While the narrative failed in spectacular fashion, the script has not changed. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) expressed sympathy for the “absolute shock, absolute shock of our European allies” to be confronted in this fashion. Rather than address the examples of systemic attacks on free speech, Moulton reached again for the favorite talking point: “if you listen, listen carefully it’s actually much deeper and darker. He was talking about the enemy within. This is some of the same language that Hitler used to justify the Holocaust.”
Like Brennan, Moulton is warning that free speech can be a path to genocide. However, his take is that anyone claiming to be the victim of censorship is taking a page out of the Nazi playbook. The logic is simple. The Nazis complained about censorship. You complained about censorship. Thus, ipso facto, you are a Nazi.
Others joined the mob in denouncing Vance and supporting the Europeans. CNN regular Bill Kristol called the speech “a humiliation for the US and a confirmation that this administration isn’t on the side of the democracies.”
By defending free speech, you are now viewed as anti-democratic. It is part of the Orwellian message of the anti-free-speech movement. Democracy demands censorship, and free speech invites fascism.
It is hardly a novel argument. It was the very rationale used in Germany after World War II to impose what is now one of the most extensive censorship systems in the world. It was initially justified as an anti-Nazi measure but then, as has occurred repeatedly in history, became an insatiable appetite for speech controls. Indeed, the country returned to the prosecution of anything deemed disinformation and fake news by the government.
The result has indeed silenced many, but not those neo-Nazis who are flourishing in Germany. Past polling of German citizens found that only 18% of Germans feel free to express their opinions in public. Only 17% felt free to express themselves on the internet. As under the Weimar Constitution, fascist groups are portraying themselves as victims while finding alternative ways to spread their message.
Yet, the American media continues to peddle the same disinformation on the value of censorship. After its anchor made the widely ridiculed claim about free speech leading to genocide, 60 Minutes ran an interview with German officials extolling the success of censorship.
CBS’ Sharyn Alfonsi compared how the United States allows “hate-filled or toxic” speech while Germany is “trying to bring some civility to the worldwide web by policing it in a way most Americans could never imagine.”
German prosecutors (Dr. Matthäus Fink, Svenja Meininghaus and Frank-Michael Laue) detailed how they regularly raid homes to crack down on prohibited views with the obvious approval of CBS.
They acknowledged that “the people are surprised that this is really illegal, to post these kind [sic] of words… They don’t think it was illegal. And they say, ‘No, that’s my free speech,’ And we say, ‘No, you have free speech as well, but it also has its limits.'”
Alfonsi explained that the law criminalizes anything the government considers inciteful “or deemed insulting.” She then asked “Is it a crime to insult somebody in public?” The prosecutors eagerly affirmed, but added that the punishment is even higher to insult someone on the Internet.
Meininghaus started to explain that “if you’re [on] the internet, if I insult you or a politician …” Alfonsi could not even wait for the end of the sentence and completed it for him: “It sticks around forever.”
As CBS was completing the sentences of speech regulators, many in Europe were celebrating the Vance speech as breathing new life into the embattled free speech community. What is most striking is how the press and the pundits could not help themselves. They are eagerly proving Vance’s point. This is an existential fight for the “indispensable right.”
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
Jonathan: DJT is a busy man. He just named himself Chairman of the Kennedy Center, so he’s busy editing out any “woke” messages from the Center’s programs this year. When he’s not playing artistic director at the Center he is busy playing golf.
And DJT is setting records. According to Golf Digest DJT has spent 30% of his first four weeks in office playing golf. At this rate DLT will surpass his record in the first term of playing at least 289 rounds of golf, costing taxpayers at least $150 million for travel and security.
Now it order to keep up his golf game (where he cheats a lot) DJT has turned to Elon Musk to do the messy work. Musk relishes the idea of cutting government agencies, like the FAA and the NTSB, that have fined him and his companies for violating safety rules when his rockets and Tesla cars crash and burn. According to Musk these are the agencies that are the “enemy within” and must be disbanded. Now if Musk is really serious about cutting “fraud, waste and abuse” in government spending he might look at the wasteful spending to support the boss’s golf game. But that would be a bridge too far. Don’t expect that to happen any time soon!
DJT and Musk want to privatize government–make it more efficient like what we find in giant corporations. Makes sense, right? Except if a CEO of any size corporation were to spend 30% of his time playing golf he would soon find himself out of a job. But, hey, for the MAGA supporters out there you voted for the guy and you’re now stuck with him!
It is my understanding that from what Musk has found and What Trump has then cut, they have already saved $50B in the next year.
If Trump wants to golf every single day and he can still cut $50B in federal spending ever month – I am completely on board for that.
While most grasp the Musk is the real President garbage as nonsense – Trump is clearly the president.
You say he is setting a record for golf games – he is also setting a record for press conferences or taking questions from the press.
He has been more available to the press in the past 3 weeks than Biden in the entire past 4 years.
Possibly than Biden and Harris combined.
But if you want to beleive in a fantasy world of President Musk – SO WHAT ?
Whoever you beleive is running the show – they are doing Great.
However much Time is playing golf – he is doing great.
I hope this pace can be kept up for the next 4 years – we might have a country back.
Is the Media/Leftists questioning who was President during the Biden Admin? Inquiring minds want to know.
Dennis,
Calm down. There are only 1430 more days to go. Pace yourself. 🙂
“He just named himself Chairman of the Kennedy Center . . .”
Actually, he was elected by its Board.
The rest of your rant is equally accurate.
Minus 39 in Bismark!
Global Warming!
BOLO!
Jonathan: This column, like the last, is much the same. You are like Goebbels. Repeat a lie often enough and people will start to believe it. The big lie this time is that “many in Europe were celebrating the Vance speech”. You don’t cite one European leader who endorsed Vance’s speech? In fact, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s rebuke of Vance was met with enthusiastic applause at the Munich conference. Europeans are standing shoulder to shoulder in rejecting Vance’s claims that they should embrace fascist parties in Europe as part of his “free speech” agenda–and especially the neo-Nazi NfD party in Germany that stands for xenophobia, antisemitism and racism.
It’s ironic that while Vance extols the virtues of “free speech” in Europe he supports the crackdown on free expression here at home–the crackdown on the press, banishing of AP reporters from WH briefings, the firing of heads of agencies and the wholesale purging of anyone in government that does no go along with the DJT/Musk right-wing agenda. Musk and DJT are taking a page out of the Nazi playbook. Begin by purging anyone in government who might oppose you.
Your column, like those before it, are a distraction from the fact that “free speech” is under severe attack here at home. That is something you should focus on–not what is happening in Europe!
“banishing of AP reporters from WH briefings”. You are kidding, right? It’s time for the trolls to throw in their spades if this is the best they can do.
“Begin by purging anyone in government who might oppose you.”
You idiot. The other elected members of the government are all the opposition that is allowed. Period.
Why on gods green earth would we want people in the executive branch working against the elected Head Executive?
Are you really that stupid?
Insubordination is a fireable offense.
Period.
The workers dont work for themselves OR for the shareholders (us). They work for the goddam CEO and the CEO answers to the shareholders (us).
Dennis – former President Biden was one of the least transparent and least accessible presidents in history. He rarely held press conferences, and when he did, he only called on reporters from a reapproved list, with a cheat card with photos of the journalists, who then asked pre-arranged questions, so he could read pre-arranged answers. I remember a journalist from the African continent getting so fed up with Karine Jeanne Pierre for not calling on him in a year that he loudly made a complaint.
Trump has held press conferences near daily. He calls on reporters who hate him, and happily spars with them. He answers questions off the cuff, and though he may at times give his staff ulcers, he lets the press know all about his plans and opinions, including his opinion of the press.
It’s a bit absurd at this point to complain about a “crackdown on the press.”
Most of the press acknowledge that Trump is one of the most transparent and accessible presidents in modern times.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA): “if you listen, listen carefully it’s actually much deeper and darkerwabbit Trump season
“We will convene representatives of all viewpoints to study the causes for the drastic rise in chronic disease,” Kennedy added. “Some of the possible factors we will investigate were formally taboo or insufficiently scrutinized.”
Hey idiot, there is a measles outbreak in Texas amongst unvaccinated kids. Ya think the lack of vaccines might be a problem?
Idiot
@Baby
We should all thank Biden’s team for reimporting infectious diseases that were all but gone. Think antibiotic-resistant TB. Thank you, idjits.
There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. Some of the victims of concentration camps were critics of the Nazi regime.
I can’t understand how these ludicrous assertions gain traction.
People KNOW that people who condemned the Nazi government were sent to concentration camps. Yet people who view themselves as intelligent repeat that allowing free speech is just like the Nazi government.
“I can’t understand how these ludicrous assertions gain traction.”
A public education system that is run by teachers’ unions?
Remember this terrified Israeli mother, kidnapped from her home with her two red-haired boys, along with her husband and the grandparents?
Well, they’re dead. The mother and her babies are dead. As per usual, the terrorists, whose charter calls for global genocide of Jews, who kidnapped her and her children blamed Israel.
Those little babies sucking on their binkies, while their panic stricken mother had only a swaddling blanket and her arms to shield them, are dead.
https://youtu.be/7Y9fHUOhTMY?si=bFN5cQAqaHi9dmjC
There is no difference between Hamas’ rhetoric, and Nazi rhetoric. They both called for killing all the Jews. An overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Gaza also want the destruction of Israel and death to the Jews. At times, they favored other terrorist organizations to do so more than Hamas, but they always shared that goal.
There is only one country on Earth targeted by a global movement for its destruction, and murder of its people, and that’s also the only Jewish country in the world, Israel.
All these protests, where people repeat the genocidal chant about killing Jews “from the river to the sea” are reenacting Nazi marches.
85% of the land allocated for Israel was instead given to appease the Muslims in the creation of Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. That wasn’t enough. Palestinians were offered 5 land for peace deals, but they declined them all, because the goal is the destruction of Israel.
Completely true. Thank you!!
In Maggie Brennan’s defense, maybe there is a genetic thing going on. She is of Irish descent, and you know how the Irish love to drink! Maybe she was hitting the sauce before she spoke??? I know that I have said, and done, some pretty stupid stuff when I have drunk too much. Hmmm. AHA! An Irish Poem! How apropos!
How Now, Blau Frau???
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm
Alas, for poor old Maggie Brennan!
Oh Boy!, what a lie she’s been spinnin’!
“The Third Reich was kewl
With Free Speech???” What a fool!!!
Or was it her cups she’s been in???
Notes: Blau is a German word for drunk, and also Blue- which is appropriate for a Democrat.
In his cups, or her cups, or one’s cups, is an idiom for being drunk.
Keep writing — I love it!!
Thank you! I am glad you liked it! Although, the last line should read:
Or was it her cups that she’s been in???
For some reason, I copy and pasted the draft, not the final.
SqueekyFromm- you continue to inspire.
Squeeks, you’re baaaackkk! Brava!
Just an off thought on solving the budget deficit. If everyone making $1 million a year and up paid a flat 25% tax, it would bring in $750 billion a year. That’s about half the federal budget. The rest of us pay $1.6 trillion. That’s how we need to bring down debt. Yes, make government efficient. But let’s not step over a dollar to pick up a penny. And if corporations actually paid the 21% currently on the books, as a flat tax, that would double what is taken in now to $588 billion. The rich simply don’t pay their fair share.
AND, the government shovels boatloads of money to the companies run by rich people. So, companies and the people who own them don’t pay enough, but then get our money. Remember, Elon made his fortune on government contracts.
The current budget is over $7,000 billion / year. You should start there.
Amusing that it hasn’t even occurred to “figures like Brennan” that the government has very much changed hands. Trump and Vance should concede defeat in this argument, adopt the Left’s preferred policy, and set about censoring and arresting people whose opinions differ from the *current* administration.
We hate speech too much to allow you to hate our speech.
Margaret Brennan, John Kerry, Sharon Alfonsi and Eric Swalwell. Who does not belong in this group? Trick question: they are all obnoxious nit-wits. Oops, I better not visit Germany (or CBS).
The libtards don’t get it. When we the people speak, it’s PROTECTED speech. When liberals speak they are aiding and abetting the enemy. They are traitors. Every Democrat elected leader is guilty and should be charged, tried and sentenced to long prison terms!!!
The best question for those who support censorship is “who gets to be the arbiter of what is misinformation or not”, and then if they actually answer, follow up with how can you place your trust in any entity? If they don’t see the tragic flaw in entrusting censorship to an entity that can potentially abuse the censorship in a totalitarian manner.
What is as undeniable as it is stupid is that proponents of state censorship desire the law of the land to be:
“Anything you say can and will be used against you should we deem it harmful.”
I WILL NOT watch 1 minute of 60 Minutes!
@kirk
I will, just to see what nonsense they are perpetuating, and you’d better believe they are. We don’t get to rest. It is terrible, and exhausting, but we don’t.
I can top-notch you one that one – I don’t watch CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN or FOXNews, other than an occasional clip shown on the various conservative podcasts I watch/listen to. No exceptions for sports, entertainment or anything else.
Just think if AfD ends up winning the next election cycle in Germany and has a working majority in its legislature. What will happen if they decide that any criticism of their government is a violation of the law, punishable by this insane speech code? Wouldn’t it be just wonderful if all their perceived enemies are then punished under the same law that the current regime is using against AfD?
I wrote that with a little bit of Schadenfreude directed at the insanity of speech codes. I don’t advocate for using speech codes at all, but am trying to point out stupidity.
You made a great point unintentionally. This hypothetical is real because the AFD doesn’t support free speech.
They want to outlaw wearing hijabs for example. No major party in Germany actually favors free speech, which is why the Vance speech was so pointless
Kevin Beck- now that is some Schadenfreude that I would love to see. It would be glorious (to quote the Professor) although I don’t believe he would approve.
CBS was once the standard for responsible news reporting from real journalists like Murrow and Cronkite. It is now a shameful, pathetic shadow of what was and will never be again. And that’s the way it is.
It may have been “the standard” but Murrow and Cronkite had their bias. They were more subtle and shrewd. Having said that, I wish we had the likes of them around today.
Wearing hijabs is not speech, it is religious-dictated dress. I like the French approach….in schools you cannot advertise your religious affiliation…no chadors or hijabs, no skull caps, no dagger ornaments.
Never is along time. Responding to this commenter, I could say once there was a standard of “can do” optimism or at least stoicism among Americans. It is shameful now (pathetic) that many Americans have given up….quitters….self-defeatists. And unlike 50 years ago, they get to share their depressing thoughts in public.
Professor, great column. Pointing out all the lies and gaslighting by MSM is more important than ever. Thank you and keep up the good work.
@Upatate
Indeed, it is. They are quite literally just lying like mofos at this point, and it is imperative we keep calling them out. Our 1A is unique on earth, and it has never been more important.👍🏼
James,
Absolutely! I would only add the 2A is just as important.
Ditto. Great opinion piece.
Cut’Em Off – If the Left and the Europeans want to back themselves into a corner, then let them do it.They will only have themselves to blame. Cutting them Off of the economic balance between the U.S. and Them will not be to their advantage, and as the dissatisfaction grows (Economic Depression & Psychological Depression), then the Populous has only their own government to blame. That’s because the Public can not ‘talk-amongst-yourselves’ (sic) due to Censorship, compounding the situation. Hence, since only the Officials can talk freely, and they were/are the ones that set the policies, are thereby to blame.
This Censorship is more than ‘Shooting yourself in the Foot’. They’ll Learn, and then forget, once again.
Why they want to isolate themselves is beyond me. Like its some sort of protectionism – Its Not.