Why is it we let the Left be the sole arbiter of what is or is not “hate speech”?
As much as I dislike the entire “hate speech” concept, since is basically smacks of thought control, those of us who disagree with them can not simply sit back and wait it out while in the meantime ceding them the ability to control the debate. In doing so, we will be committing the same mistake we made in the battles over “gun control” and “political correctness” (“hate speech”‘s much despised father).
I may have already cost myself one friend who jumped on the “hate speech” bandwagon last Saturday evening. This is a guy I’ve known for 20 years–an independent thinker, he thinks both formal political parties rate high on the suck scale. But it took him no time to jump on Facebook and start posting that “It’s all Sarah Palin’s fault!” I called him on it, and we went back and forth on the subject most of the evening. The next morning, his original status and all the comments were gone, including one serious rant from a true lefty nutter that came in after I had made my final effort to get him to see reason.
Unfortunately, it may be the price of a battle that we must win and must win quickly. You may want to consider what price you’re willing to pay. Because even if it means losing some friends or worse, it’ll be cheaper than losing this fight.
The right has no one to blame but themselves. By refusing to fight they lost the battle. The reason I tend to favor the Tea Party movement is that they are the only ones on the right who are pushing back against the left. The old school Republicans have forfited their position as leaders. The youn turks are are only hope.
I would wager it was less of a "let", and more of a "they beat us to the high ground".
The problem with the power of "hate speech", and calling it out, is that the first person to bring the phrase to bear has all the power through demonizing their target. Once so hindered, the target in question has little chance of recovering.
Of course, nine times out of ten, "hate speech" is scant more than dissent, but that matters naught to those who are swayed by emotion.