Having to advise the public may speak free.
Which he who can, and will, deserv' s high praise
Who neither can, nor will, may hold his peace.
What can be juster in a state than that?
Euripides
This was the opening quote from John Milton's November, 1644 piece, Areopagitica,
which he presented to Parliament in defense of free speech. It has been quoted many
times by our Supreme Court in defense of the First Amendment. Free speech is the
bedrock of the United States, the subject of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
But what good is free speech really? As of June 1, 2020, our president, Donald Trump,
has told 19,127 lies. That put him on track to surpass 20,000 lies by the end of his
term in January 2021.
In today's 'cancel culture' so many people attempt to shut out speech that goes counter
to their beliefs. In answer to that, some 153 writers, academics, and journalists signed
a letter published in Harpers online magazine denouncing the current climate of
"...intolerance of opposing views". But tolerance of free speech is great until it comes
up against Alex Jones and his ilk.
Last week the PBS Frontline program dedicated the entire hour to Alex Jones and his media
empire InfoWars. Beginning with his childhood in Texas, where young Alex was known
as a trouble maker, through his years on a late-night public-access cable TV show, and his
rise and fall and rise again. The show opened up with Jones and Roger Stone gleefully
celebrating Trump's presidential victory in 2016, and taking much of the credit for it.
Which indeed they had a right to.
It was Jones and Stone who perpetuated the "pizzagate" conspiracy. They asserted that
Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, her campaign manager, were running a child abuse
ring out of the basement of a pizzeria in Washington D.C. So convincing was Jones
portrayal, that one of his faithful followers went to Washington, with a rifle, and fired
numerous rounds into the restaurant. As incomparable as this may seem, there is a
history of conspiracy theories that go back to the time of Gilgamesh, of powerful people
gathering in secret to sexually abuse children. Seems there is nothing new under the sun.
Even before the election, Alex Jones had used his media platform to among other things;
disavow the 9/11 terrorist attacks saying that they were a government 'inside job', spout
conspiracy theories that there are 'lizard people' walking among us, and that the government
is controlling the weather, and it is using chemicals to turn people gay. His syndicated
radio show is popular with young men, unemployed and unemployable, as part of what
is called 'dude radio'.
Jones has become very rich mainly from the ads on his programs which generate millions
of hits and from the sale of a multitude of snake oil quackery lotions and potions, and
sundry other cheap merchandise made in sweatshops. But he reached the depths of
depravity when he went after the families of the Sandy Hook massacre. Sandy Hook was
the elementary school where 26 people, 20 of them young children, were slaughtered.
Jones claimed it never happened and that it was all a government hoax to impose strict
gun laws on the country, and that the families were actors employed by the government.
This was a bridge too far for even some of his employees who begged him to back off.
His wife divorced him suggesting that he was mentally unstable. His continued hounding
of the mothers and fathers drove some of them into hiding, and destroyed families and
marriages. Eventually one father fought back and took Jones to court. and though Jones
pleaded mental illness he lost the case. The notoriety drove the father into hiding for fear
of his safety. Despite it all, Jones has retained his celebrity. He is still a powerful influencer,
that was what Roger Stone recognized when he began using Jones as a vehicle to get Donald
Trump elected. And Donald Trump went along, praising Jones for his support.
It can be accepted that Alex Jones has a dangerous impact on the presidency. He has
influenced both Fox News and Donald Trump, much of Trump's veering from one
unsupported claim to another, can be traced back to Jones. And now the president is
retweeting claims made by the dubious 'doctor' Stella Immanuel, insisting that al-
though he knows nothing about her, he tweets that she is "very respected". This is the
same doctor that claims that hydroxychloroquine can cure COVID-19, despite proof it
does not and is dangerous to use without medical supervision. She also claims that doctors
are using alien DNA to treat patients, and that researchers are developing a vaccine to stop
people from becoming religious.
Because of the 'bully pulpit' both Jones and Immanuel are in a position to cause irreparable
harm to millions of Americans. Should these persons, and others like them, be tolerated and
be allowed to keep promulgating their dangerous and ignorant views? If we object vociferously
are we demonstrating an 'intolerance of opposing views'? Is this what the First Amendment
was written to protect?
I'm just sayin'
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