Timothy Birdnow

Who here remembers when ESPN fired Rush Limbaugh? Rush had been hired to do color commentary on NFL games and then a big scandal broke out when he called a guy who was guilty of stolen valor a "fake soldier" and the Democrats melted down, saying "how dare he!" and the pretended he was calling any soldier who supported Democrats fake soldiers.

ESPN sacked Limbaugh for that, saying he a divisive character who was detracting from the serious business of sports.

(In fact then-Senate Majority leader Harry Reid tried to have the Senate censure Rush, something he cannot do as Rush was not in the Senate, but there you have it. After Rush sold the letter sent him by Reid and donated the money to a charity that helped soldiers Reid tried to act as if he and Rush cooked that up together to raise money.)

At any rate the point is nobody said ESPN was violating Rush's free speech rights. We were mad, thought it was a rotten trick, and unfair, but nobody argued this was cancel culture attempting to limit Rush's right to speak. (Well, actually it was but they were on solid legal ground.)

Yet now we are hearing that about Jimmy Kimmel; the Democrats and media are trying to accuse the Right of cancel culture and attacking the First Amendment. But if it wasn't when THEY did it to  Rush then how is it in this instance?

Employers have always had the right to set speech codes. When you ask someone to pay you for services you agree to waive some of your First Amendment rights. You can't advertise for a competitor, for instance. You can't call the customers "deplorables" for another. If they tell you not to mention Jesus, or Allah, or Buddha you have to restrain your tongue. This has nothing to do with the First Amendment, which states Congress shall make no law..(concerning) free speech or prohibiting the free exercise therreof". Note it is a limitation on the power of Congress (and by SCOTUS rulings over government in general); it doesn't say a thing about employers regulating speech.

Of course even government regulates speech. Civil rights law prohibits someone from using racial slurs, in the workplace, for instance, especially in government jobs. So, if Kimmel gets his job back can people start using the N word at work? No?

If calling black employees or customers buckwheat is not acceptable, if it creates a hostile work environment (and it does) then it can and should be banned. What is the difference between that and what Kimmel said?

The difference is over who's ox is being gored. The Left wields such things like swords to smite their foe. They are on one side when it suits them then the other side when it doesn't.

Nobody is suggesting Kimmel be prosecuted for "fighting words" and inciting violence. But manu agree with the network decision to fire him. Don't worry about him; some other leftist outfit will pick him up. He'll probably wind up as a commentator on CNN, or get a job at a university.That's what leftists do with their fallen friends. And, as Rush used to say, failure is a resume' enhancer on the Left.

Of course the Left has quickly forgotten the things they did to people who suported Trump, from de-banking to de-platforming to actually arresting and fraudulently charging them with bogus crimes. Look at guys like Giulliani, or Gen. Mike Flynn. Look at poor old Popodopoulis, who was just a minor aid in the Trump Administration and wound up serving prison time for a few misspoken words. For that matter look at Dinesh D'Souza who went to jail for accidentally going a few dollars over on a donation to a personal friend. The Left has criminalized speech all along, then cry foul when a dufus on late night television gets sacked for offensive comments after a political assassination.

I myself was largely deplatformed by Facebook; I was being shadow banned, meaning my posts were only visible to me and to a few others. I had no reach. I was always being asked "where have you been - haven't seen you around" when I had been posting all along. And then there were the convenient glitches that kept me off the platform at critical moments.

Guess what? I complained bitterly but given Facebook is free to users (well, it costs you your data), I had no legal grounds to stand on. Facebook has every right to screw over users, since they don't charge for the service. Of course we are all free to leave (something I did).

So this argument that Kimmel is being "canceled" and that his First Amendment rights are being abrogated is hogwash. He's been afforded as many protections as we got - more actually. It's just that the Left doesn't like their own weapons turned against them.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 06:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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