After watching a mob attack Nancy Pelosi on Friday and then seeing Mitch McConnel and his wife harassed in a restaurant Saturday, it’s becoming all too apparent that we have a serious problem in this country right now.
Far too many people have lost their ability to agree to disagree and move on.
To that point though, when you see Democratic leaders encouraging their base to attack elected GOP officials, and reporters like WaPo’s Wesley Lowery calling these attacks ‘protected free speech’ are we really all that surprised things have gotten out of hand?
Look at this nonsense.
yelling at elected officials in public is protected first amendment speech and it’s pretty disgusting to see *journalists* lecturing our fellow citizens for directly petitioning government officials
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) October 20, 2018
Huh?
“You should not yell at elected officials in public” is an anti-free speech stance. Full stop
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) October 20, 2018
ROFL.
Oh man.
Who are reporters to tell anyone how they “should” or “should not” exercise their Constitutional rights? I’m stunned everytime folks whose entire livelihoods are drawn from 1A expression so eagerly cast themselves as the protest police
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) October 20, 2018
We’re not entirely sure Wesley understands the First Amendment, which is terrifying since he’s supposedly a journalist.
Yelling at/verbally abusing someone, esp in a persistent manner, can constitute misdemeanor harassment. Does the right to petition mean anywhere, anytime, in any manner? Is it OK to call your congresscritter at home at 3 am to demand vote for or against a law?
— Cathy Young (@CathyYoung63) October 21, 2018
*popcorn*
Well, this tweet does have the words “in public” in it – which would exclude the phone calls you’re asking about
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) October 21, 2018
Nice dodge.
OK, but a restaurant is private property. Owners can enforce a "no political protests" rule (like shopping malls do).
On a more basic level, I just don't see how this tactic can end in anything but escalating harassment on both sides (& eventually violence). YMMV.— Cathy Young (@CathyYoung63) October 21, 2018
Sure. They can. I’m not sure what point you’re making
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) October 21, 2018
*sigh*
Mainly that I don't think there's anything wrong or anti-free-speech about criticizing such tactics, at least when they seem to cross the line into harassment and/or physical intimidation. Slippery slope. There are other ways to protest.
— Cathy Young (@CathyYoung63) October 21, 2018
What she said.
Categorically decrying a specific type of nonviolent speech is…anti-speech
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) October 21, 2018
Alrighty then.
I hope you're not trying to make the case that getting into people's faces and yelling at them in restaurants is "petitioning government officials"!
— Mike a.k.a. Proof (@ProofBlog) October 20, 2018
It seems he is.
a citizen, saying things to a representative of his or her government, is definitionally "petitioning government officials" — it's using speech to sway the decision making of his or her elected representatives
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) October 20, 2018
Someone ‘saying things’ is not the same as yelling them at elected officials and attempting to physically intimidate them.
Speaking is protected. Not yelling. Not forcing them out of restaurants. Not tackling them and breaking their ribs in their own yards. Not shooting them dead at baseball games.
— TallCorn (@JuhaszTallCorn) October 20, 2018
That is an absurd argument. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
— News Nudge (@NewsNudge) October 20, 2018
He ought to be, but he won’t be.
so you don't think…a protest chant (yelling) is protect speech? (I'm not sure how someone engaging honestly with what I said – maybe you aren't – leaped from a discussion of "yelling at public officials in public" to "shooting them dead…")
— Wesley (@WesleyLowery) October 20, 2018
He keeps using that phrase, free speech. We’re not sure it means what he thinks it means.
So…you're saying the Pelosi thing was cool, and conservatives are saying it wasn't.
Well, all right then.
— FFFFF™ (@corrcomm) October 21, 2018
*shrug*
I bet Wesley wouldn’t like people following him to restaurants and disrupting his life. What’s good for the goose…
— Bruce The Gay (@BruceTheGay) October 21, 2018
He’d blame Trump and the Right for encouraging violence against the media, yup.
Says the self-important *journalist* https://t.co/AjFJ8nWT0i
— Christina Sommers (@CHSommers) October 21, 2018
Ouch.
“You should be able to yell at politicians in public” – same people who investigated and dug through the garbage of a private citizen & plumber who politely asked Barack Obama a question about his economic policy.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) October 21, 2018
HAAAAA.
As an example, here is Wesley trying to baselessly blame the Giffords shooting on an unrelated election map from Palin.
Not much concern then about reporters telling someone about how they "should or should not exercise their Constitutional rights". pic.twitter.com/FgHkplehX7
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) October 21, 2018
Not much at all.
Yelling at journalists at public rallies is also protected free speech. Saying you shouldn’t yell at journalists at public rallies is an anti-free speech stance. Full stop. pic.twitter.com/YmkvUOEeVn
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) October 21, 2018
Now THERE’S your full stop.
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