Whatever happened to free speech?

[Japher]

People have the right to support who ever they want and to speak out about those the wish. I agree that they are getting to much heat for it, i still listen to them and I am a patriot.

Every reaction has a reaction, some are just not as obvious as others. And, in fragile times one should walk lightly.

[Willem]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Whatever happened to free speech?

Originally posted by Sinapus

This Forum has restrictions on users based on behavior and it is possible to get banned or kicked off for posting something violating those restrictions. Is that banning free speech? Yes or no?

No, it's just enforcing proper decorum. It's not about what you say here, but how you say it.

If the Dixie Chicks member had said she supported the war, many of their fans took umbrage with this and radio stations decided to stop playing their music would you have the same reaction?

Yes I would. She's doesn't deserve to have her career sabotaged simply because she holds a particular viewpoint of a US president, especially by the very people she helped to make rich for a number of years.

The music industry expects all the people downloading free music to be loyal and pay up, but where's their loyalty to one of there own who happened to choose her words poorly. I guess that concept only works one way in that particular business.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Sinapus


So Congress is making a law banning speaking out against the war? Is a state legislature creating a similar law?

What has passing a law have to with anything? Freedom of speech is the very first article of your constitution I believe. Does that mean that only the government has to abide by it? What about the ordinary Joe on the street, is he entitled to ignore that particular amendment as he sees fit? Do your laws not apply to everyone? I don't understand this insistence that freedom of speech applies only to a certain sector of your society, and everyone else can do what they want. It's a principle, a foundation of your very society. You start fudging with the definition at the peril of your own freedoms.

[Ming]

Originally posted by DetroitDave
But when so much of radio is consolidated nowadays, the role of the average listener is diminished considerably.

It's the average listeners that got the stations to boycott them in the first place.



Hmmm... I guess their role hasn't been diminshed very much...

[Jac de Molay]

Yeah right, and the stations look like they're just taking on a neutral role in the whole matter too. .

What would you call encouraging listeners to trash their CDs and dumping their music from playlists? A balanced, moderate approach? More like juvenile, reactionary, hand-wringing by a vocal minority (including the DJs themselves), who can't quite grasp the finer points of free expression

What's next? A little effigy burning, perhaps? As long as "the listeners" say it's ok, it sounds like a plan

[Verto]

So Congress is making a law banning speaking out against the war? Is a state legislature creating a similar law?

It's called the Sedition Act.

[Ming]

You're just pissed that they disagree with your view on this. What they are doing is perfectly legal, and ISN'T a free speech issue... no matter how much you continue to whine that it is

[Jac de Molay]

Legal yes. But not right. And a very bad omen of things to come if artists are constantly brow-beaten by stations and record companies for expressing dissenting views.

[Ming]

Uhhh... it's the fans that started it... the radio stations are only doing what their listeners want. They are playing to the audience... and that's their job. They make money that way.

[Verto]

How many of you would be complaining if the Dixie Chicks had said something along the lines of 'Woohoo!! We love Bush! Bomb Baghdad!", and the radio stations had yanked their songs off the air?

[Ming]

They would probably be saying the same thing...

But again.. this isn't a free speech issue. It's a money issue. The radio stations will do what their listeners want, because without them, they don't make money.

[Jac de Molay]

Who's next, then? Is it appropriate, then, to yank every song off the air because some "fans" oppose the political views of the artist regardless of whether its in the music or not?

Considering how politically extreme some performers are, I would think that would be a very loooong list.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Ming
You're just pissed that they disagree with your view on this. What they are doing is perfectly legal, and ISN'T a free speech issue... no matter how much you continue to whine that it is

Again I ask, why should the First Amendment (?) only apply to the government? Is it not the main principle of American society? What's the difference who stifles someone's opinions and views, it's still blocking the free flow of ideas and values, which is what your politicians are flouting as the supreme achievement of your society. Why the double standard?

And I'm not pissed because they disagree with my view. Frankly I could care less what the Dixie Chicks believe in. I just don't think they deserve the kind of reaction they're getting, and feel that it is an injustice to them. They worked hard to get to where they are, and they shouldn't have it snatched away simply because they dared to have an opinion.

Frankly I'm appalled at the apathy and indifference I'm coming across here regarding the issue. Like Detroit Dave said, it's a bad omen if this type of thing can be allowed to happen, with no one caring. I would think that you people would have learned that lesson after the McCarthy era, but I guess I'm wrong about that. How many lives were ruined then, how many more will be ruined this time around, if this sort of thing continues?

[Ming]

Hmmm... a private company isn't allowed to determine what IT WANTS to broadcast... Talk about limiting free speech.

Are you suggesting that the GOVERNMENT tells them what they have to play....

Oh please... wake up guys and see what you are actually asking for... the exact opposite of free speech.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Verto
How many of you would be complaining if the Dixie Chicks had said something along the lines of 'Woohoo!! We love Bush! Bomb Baghdad!", and the radio stations had yanked their songs off the air?

I'd be saying the very same things. I'm a musician, most of my friends are musicians, a few of whom having been playing the Country & Western circuit around here for a number of years now. And we're entitled to have opinions on issues just like everyone else, without having to worry whether our careers will be destroyed. How would you react if your supervisor at work came up to you and said that you would have to change your political views or risk being fired from your job? Would that be fair and just? Would you just go along quietly and toe the line like a good little patriot?