Tag Archives: free speech
My Charlie Kirk Obit Cartoon
My agenda as a cartoonist is basically free speech. That made Charlie Kirk my kind of guy. He took on leftwing cancel culture by engaging college students where they were. His method was simple and brilliant, he promoted free speech using the Socratic method on college campuses. He would answer any question and then the student questioner had to respond. And so it went,
By the age of 31 Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, had 900 college and 1,200 high school chapters.
Sadly, Charlie Kirk became a free speech martyr when he was shot dead while taking the first question last week during a Utah Valley University engagement themed “Prove Me Wrong.”
Already since that dark day, Andrew Kolvet, the Charley Kirk Show producer says he has received 37,000 inquires seeking new chapters. Sounds to me like a possible turning point for the USA’s rotten politics.
Unfortunately some of the rotten politicians didn’t see it that way. U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) demanded an apology from Newsday and my termination (first they’d have to hire me.) Jesse Garcia, chairman of the Suffolk County Republican Party, criticized Newsday. He said the paper “crossed a line” and that the cartoon mocked tragedy, caused division, and encouraged political violence. He called it a “reckless, partisan attack” and said it silenced free speech.
Here’s my apology: I’m sorry Charlie Kirk isn’t around to give these guys a free speech lesson.
Nasty Free Speech
The creeps who protest at the funerals of dead soldiers appeared before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. They were sued by the father of Matthew Snyder, a marine whose funeral they picketed. The protesters are led by a preacher named Fred Phelps. Their beef is with homosexuality and they claim that dead soldiers are God’s punishment. The thing is, unless the Supreme Being files a brief, they may be well within their rights. A 1988 court ruling, Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, unanimously upheld the right to nasty speech unless it can be proven false.
USA Today has a complete story with video.
Political Speech
I’m kind of late with this one but wanted to get it in. The idea came from a George Will column.
President Don Rickles
President Rickles insulted members of his audience during last night’s state of the union speech. He criticized the Supreme Court, while some justices sat directly in front of him, for its ruling in favor of free speech in the Citizens United v. FEC case. Here’s a link to the Washington Post with a video clip of the moment, including Alito’s response. Here’s Jack Tapper at ABC giving a historian’s perspective.
