Image via Wikipedia
Newt Gingrich believes that his right to free speech is being blocked by the free speech of others. Raw Story reports Gingrich told Fox’s Sean Hannity that he cancelled an event at his campaign headquarters due to Occupy protesters demonstrating outside. In the interview, Gingrich not only said that some Occupy demonstrators “have a touch of anarchism in them,” but went on to say “the society’s going to have to say there are limits to those kind of folks blocking people from having their right to free speech.”
In other words:
- Gingrich continues the ramped up rhetorical war against anarchists. We’ve already seen this in several places. Anarchists are quickly becoming the new favorite villain of the right and the left, thanks to 2011’s explosion of anti-corporate and left leaning demonstrations across the globe. As Joe Macare at Global Comment points out: “(anarchism) is a word that is much misunderstood and often deliberately misrepresented to evoke cartoonish chaos, but it is also a political philosophy that arguably threatens established power structures most, since it calls for not the reform but the dismantling of the modern nation state.”
- Newt believes in free speech, but his right to free speech is simply more important than others. More than likely, he would be fine with OWS protesters, provided they were kept confined to “free speech zones,” fenced in areas set up far away from the eyes and ears of the targets of said protests.
- Like plenty of other right wing conservatives, Gingrich loves the rhetoric provided by Occupy movements. Provided he can doublethink hard enough to criticize his opponents while ignoring his own role and status in those criticisms, that is. Talking Points Memo reports Newt recently leveled criticism about Mitt Romney’s role as a one percenter, telling reporters “You have to ask the question, is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of people and then walk off with the money?”
Ultimately, Newt’s opinion of Occupy demonstrators and free speech reflect the sad state of understanding the right wing has when it comes to free speech. Conservative politicians and pundits love free speech, provided that speech agrees with their views and values. Anything critical or not under their PR spin control either sends them running or has them calling for a clamp down.
When a candidate for the nation’s highest office, whose job would be to uphold the constitution, says we should limit the speech of his opponents because they exercise their right to peaceably assemble, it’s time for that candidate to exit the election cycle. The statement not only demonstrates a gross interpretation of what “free speech” means, but shows exactly how totalitarian Newt Gingrich would act sitting in the Oval Office.
