I have the pleasure of speaking at my alma mater, The University of Chicago, on Saturday about my book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” and the free press. The Chicago Thinker is sponsoring the American Identity Summit on Saturday, May 10th, 2025 at the Rubenstein Forum.
I will be speaking as part of a panel from 9:30 – 11:00 AM titled “The Fight Against Censorship and the Future of American Journalism.” The other speakers will be Cenk Uygur, Nadine Strossen, and Clay Travis.
I hope to see some of our blog community there.
Tickets are available here.
#9. Give em ell Professor!
I hope the question comes up whether those elected to public office, and those they appoint and hire, do NOT have 1st Amendment rights that go so far as to intentionally dupe the public. Propaganda is a primary tool of authoritarian despots to control and manipulate public opinion. That vice is repugnant to American ideals — our system was designed to prevent authoritarian dictatorship, therefore you would assume:
• propaganda on the part of government officials is NOT protected by the 1st Amendment
• there would be a fast-response, legal mechanism to stop such activity in its tracks the moment it starts
We know that crooked people who make it into government don’t see it this way. They insist that they are entitled to their own self-serving “opinions and facts”, and the 1st Amendment gives them the right to speak them backed by the authority of office. These are the rationalizations of petty despots exercising superior powers of “opinion-shaping”.
Prof. Turley ignores this abuse-case of free speech in his book, always taking up the perspective of the chump with no power who government is trying to censor and intimidate. I’d like to see public deceptions waged by the powerful actors in society receive a full treatment. It’s my claim that the primary tool of dictatorship is NOT covered by the 1st Amendment. I’d like to see a legal process whereby citizens can instantly discredit and defang propaganda in the instant of its dissemination. Voting the scoundrel out of office at the next opportunity is way too slow a response.
Good luck, Professor, and thank you all for all you do. 😊
thank you for having the bravery to speak out
do you believe “protesters” should be allowed to INTERRUPT, harass, attack, etc?
Every SINGLE riotors for BLM, Telsa, etc should be jailed.
Harassing telsa and scaring their employees and customers…is a CRIME…and PURE FASCISM!
I don’t not believe peaceful protestors should be allowed in roads, colleges, places of private homes or business
go to a park make your point…gluing yourself to a place of business…should REQUIRE you to pay all costs of interruption and a FINE PAID TO THE BUSINESS for loss of business!
attack a priceless painting…you should be jailed till you can pay back the PRICELESS costs!
ATTACKING others and Harassing them…is a CRIME
CENK is an IDIOT…but I guess a useful idiot at this point…as everything he defends falls apart!
I can think of a good secondary topic. “Free Speech in The Era of An American Pope”.
That will have to be on everyone’s lips and the last subject will be “Is the new Pope a Cubs Fan?” That, of course, will have a monumental effect on the religious world.
Not a Catholic but I never thought we would see an American Pope, much less that he was from Chicago.
Good Point “…I never thought we would see an American Pope …”
I don’t think we’ll ever see a; Black African, Japanese, Chinese, India Indian, Non-White Pope.
Anonymous 9:40am-I’ pretty sure the genie is out of the bottle. Much growth in the Catholic Church in Africa , Asia and South America. I would not be surprised by an Asian Pope, African or otherwise. We have already had a South American
I hope so GEB,
Given my age, I think this is my last Pope. The Papal conclave of the College of Cardinals of 252 cardinals is getting more diverse.
Ref.:
Who Are the Cardinals Selecting the Pope?
By: Rebecca Schneid ~ May 7, 2025
“… The majority are from Europe, with 52 cardinals, 17 are from Africa, 16 are from North America, 4 are from Central America, 17 are from South America, 23 are from Asia and 4 are from Oceania.
This will be the first papal conclave in which fewer than half the voting cardinals are European, showing a shift away from Europe-centricism in the Catholic church. In fact, it will be the most geographically diverse conclave in history, a legacy in part brought about by Pope Francis—the first Latin-American Pope, who consistently emphasized the importance of this diversity, and dismissed the idea that nationality or geography should determine who became Pope. …”
https://time.com/7283650/who-are-cardinals-selecting-pope-conclave/
Yesterday (May 8th., 2025) was quite a miraculous day:
We got a new Pope,
Got a Tariff Trade Deal done with the U.K,
and Bill Gates pledged his conveyance of wealth to Humanity.
-Spectacular Day-
That tariff deal with the UK was a joke. It did nothing to improve much. Trump is not making good deals.
Since your glass is already half empty, lets empty it completely
Re -Spectacular Day- May 8th
80 years ago VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) ending WW∙II
Barry Butler Photography
@barrybutler9
Chicago celebrates the new Pope. Pope Leo XIV is from Chicago. There’s no truth to the rumor that the cardinals in the conclave subscribed to the Chicago practice of “vote early and vote often”.
https://x.com/barrybutler9/status/1920794162162545141
Quite a panel!