Last week, California Governor (and maybe also prospective 2024 Democratic presidential contender) Gavin Newsom sent out a pretty hilarious tweet about how the Republican Party basically stands for the opposite of what Independence Day is all about.
For the 4th of July, the @GOP would like to remind us all that their patriotic duty is to attempt to strip away your freedom. https://t.co/eAOwnTQM9i
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 5, 2023
It wasn't meant to be hilarious, but it still was.
Well, Independence Day 2023 may have come and gone, but Gavin's still riding this "The GOP Hates Freedom and America" train pretty hard. Yesterday, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn sent out a pretty straightforward tweet accurately characterizing the radical Left's views on the First Amendment:
Freedom of speech = freedom of thought.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 9, 2023
That terrifies the radical Left.
Aren’t y’all the ones banning books and such?
— Jonathan Levitt (@JWLevitt) July 9, 2023
No, Jonathan. The GOP is not banning books. But clearly you're dumb enough to believe they are, which is why Gavin Newsom feels perfectly comfortable tweeting stuff like this in response to Blackburn's tweet:
Your party is promoting:
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 9, 2023
- book banning
- limiting speech in classrooms
- silencing people in the boardroom
- fining librarians
But please tell us more about your version of “freedom of speech.” https://t.co/hKMkGUp3ui
I'll give it a go, Gavin, even though you didn't ask me for my opinion: Conservatives' version of freedom of speech is the one that allows dishonest scumbags like you to lie through your pearly-white teeth without fear of being silenced and canceled and thrown into prison and have your life completely ruined. Does that clear things up for you?
This is a lie. https://t.co/TAt8pOt5mu
— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) July 10, 2023
It's all a lie.
This is so easy to debunk that it's actually boring, I'll leave this to @CommunityNotes
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) July 9, 2023
Heh.
-Name a book that you can't get in any county in America.
— matt dooley (@mdooley) July 10, 2023
-speech in classrooms has always been limited. Ask Larry Flynt.
-if librarians disregard laws, there should be punishments for them.
It's almost as if Gavin Newsom is deliberately misrepresenting what's actually going on.
If by book banning is you mean pornographic material targeted towards minors then yes
— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) July 9, 2023
Gavin "bans" the classics from schools.
— J L Fairchild (@J_L_Fairchild) July 9, 2023
Republican's "ban" porn.
I wonder which strategy parents support? pic.twitter.com/R7hxyd19lM
This is what California schools are promoting. pic.twitter.com/AJPcFMjmEV
— Denise Aguilar (@InformedMama209) July 9, 2023
Wanting to keep sexually explicit materials out of school libraries isn't "banning books." It's protecting children from a pernicious form of abuse. A pernicious form of abuse that Gavin Newsom is defending. Just like he defends ridiculous regulations and illegal immigration and abortion and gun control and everything that has helped turn California from a success story to a disastrous cautionary tale.
And it's important to point out that if anyone is guilty of trying to clamp down on the First Amendment and freedom in general, it's people like Gavin Newsom.
Back in the real world, you signed a law that illegally censors doctors who disagree w/ you (who, last I checked, is NOT a doctor)
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 10, 2023
Speech has always been limited in classrooms. Books have always been curated in libraries. These aren't "bans." You, on the other hand, signed into law an unconstitutional "medical misinformation" bill, which was fortunately roundly overturned. https://t.co/Tp5pFVXbgz
— stevemur (@stevemur) July 9, 2023
Conservatives aren't looking to shut down free speech. In fact, if anything, we want Gavin Newsom and the rest of the Left to keep talking as much as possible. The more they tell on themselves, the worse they look. And we're all for that.
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Related:
Gavin Newsom takes a swing at 'GOP's version of freedom' & accidentally knocks himself out
Gavin Newsom really needs DeSantis to be the squirrel that distracts us from California's decline
Gavin Newsom's warning of 'what's to come' in Ron DeSantis' Florida sounds more like a cry for help
Gavin Newsom sticks it to the Right by freely purchasing 'banned books' at a store
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