Day 38: Republicans Rapidly Erode First Amendment
Amendment I to the United States Constitution reads:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
No establishing of religion; no prohibiting speech by the public or press; no preventing of peaceful assembly.
In just the past couple of weeks, Republicans at the state and federal level have managed to trample across each portion of the First Amendment.
Religion
America’s first settlers and later the Founding Fathers understood the need to be free from England-type religious-based persecution. The idea was so ingrained that this tenet comes before freedom of speech or assembly in the First Amendment.
James Madison stated, “Every new and successful example of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance.”
In other words, church should stay out of politics and politics out of church.
Alleged constitutionalist Ted Cruz is decrying that invocations of Jesus at a town hall meeting were met with opposition.
Town halls were rife with them.
Last weekend, Melania Trump introduced her husband, with Air Force One in the background, with the Lord’s Prayer.
While the Supreme Court has generally limited prayers and religion at government functions to a narrow set of circumstances, religion and politics continue to be entwined to unprecedented degrees.
One can’t help but wonder how Ted Cruz would feel if a Muslim senator or representative chose to begin an evening town hall with the Isha prayer.
Furthermore, Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning travel from certain Muslim-majority countries. This came after he proclaimed during his campaign his desire to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. He has also signaled that persecuted Christians would be given priority over persecuted Muslims.
Speech, Press
Trump has continued to assail the press, and disparaged their reporting.
In retaliation for stories that have rattled Trump, the White House has cherry picked what media members would be invited to press briefings.
It’s not limited to the White House, however. It’s trickled down to Congress and to the state level, too.
We have covered Trump’s delusional tirades, and those by his agents, numerous times. Tempted as we may be, we’ll decline to beat that dead horse here.
Assembly
Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington — 18 in all — have introduced legislation to prevent or criminalize peaceful assembly.
Eighteen.
And counting.
As the Washington Post reports:
Some are introducing bills because they say they’re necessary to counter the actions of “paid” or “professional” protesters who set out to intimidate or disrupt, a common accusation that experts agree is largely overstated. “You now have a situation where you have full-time, quasi-professional agent-provocateurs that attempt to create public disorder,” said Republican state senator John Kavanagh of Arizona in support of a measure there that would bring racketeering charges against some protesters.
Arizona’s bill — which passed in their senate this week on party lines — is perhaps the craziest. It would allow for the prosecution of protesters under the racketeering statute.
Racketeering for protesting?
Racketeering is, in essence, forcing someone to engage in a service to solve a fake problem. Think the mafia shaking down a small business owner for “protection,” ostensibly from people in the neighborhood, but in reality from the mafia itself.
Senator Bernie Sanders saw the hypocrisy, too.
The erosion of all facets of the First Amendment is not something that should be taken lightly.
Trump has managed to do all of this in less than six weeks.
38 days in, 1424 to go
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