Rednecks, Ducks and the First Amendment

There’s an awful lot of noise out there recently about a reality TV star who, in a magazine article, said some idiotic things.

Yes, I agree with those who say that what he said was idiotic. It was.

He was suspended from the show he was on, and a lot of the noise is about how the show’s network – A&E – is violating his right of free speech.

So it seems, once again, the people of this fair country need to be taught that words have meaning.

A&E is not violating his right of free speech. They can’t. They are not Congress or any branch of Federal, State or local government. They do not have the ability to use force to silence him.

Nor are they trying to shut down GQ – wherein he spoke those idiotic words – or any of the other venues that repeat them.

The First Amendment – which provides protection of the Right to Free Speech – is directed solely at government action. The government may make no laws restricting freedom of the speech or of the press.

A&E are not the government. Their only power in this is the power to say ‘yes, we will give you a venue’, or ‘no, we will not give you a venue’. They cannot make CNN ignore him, they cannot force the History Channel to not hire him, they cannot affect him in any way except to say ‘you’re not welcome on our network’, which is what they’ve done.

Let us be very clear, ladies and gentlemen. The First Amendment does not promise a venue, it does not promise a microphone or a printing press or a TV show. No one is being forced to provide you with a pulpit. The only thing the First Amendment does is ensure that – if you can get a pulpit – the government cannot force you to shut up.

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Tags: Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson, The First Amendment

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