By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
I thought it an interesting twist and in the end quite fitting to celebrate this year’s U.S. Independence Day in Derry, Northern Ireland which coincides a month shy of the fiftieth anniversary Battle of the Bogside and the birth of the Free Derry zone within NI.
I’ve noted in my travels that one can learn from different expressions of freedom, or the lack thereof, in visiting other nations that in the end resulted in a better appreciation for the gift of Liberty that we have a civil right to experience in the United States.
The Derry Murals: (click on each to enlarge)
Gonzaga University School of Law Visiting
Below is my column on the vote scheduled for this week by France to impose a new regulation on Internet speech — essentially forcing companies to scrub their sites of any hate speech as defined under sweeping French laws. What is astonishing is how many Americans are prepared to follow the European model in limiting free speech on the basis for loosely defined terms of threatening or intimidating or harassing anyone on the basis for race or religion or sexual orientation or other protected groups. The implications for free speech is sweeping and chilling. The West has fallen out of love with free speech. What is most concerning however is that countries like France and Germany are likely to strip away free speech protections for the rest of the World, even in countries like the United States where free speech is still given broad protection.
The Fourth is one of my favorite holidays as a time when citizens should put aside our differences and focus on the freedoms that unite us. The American Republic is still a work in progress, a constitutional system that must be renewed by each generation. This holiday unfortunately shows how our differences threaten to overwhelm our common article of faith in this representative democracy. The Nike controversy shows how our differences are now overwhelming our core shared values, including the very symbol of this nation. Nevertheless, many of us will join today to celebrate these United States and its history and values. My family will celebrate with a cookout and, of course, fireworks. 
Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper. Even after Nike embraced Colin Kaepernick, I was flabbergasted by the decision of Nike to pull sneakers showing the early American flag because Kaepernick found it offensive. Supporters of Kaepernick has insisted that the flag is now a symbol of white supremacists. I do not know about the adoption by white supremacists but I am familiar with the flag being used by prior protesters ranging from Civil Rights marchers to anti-Vietnam activists as well as
