Voting and Freedom of Speech, Both in Peril
SCOTUS fails, again + One of the Best Things I've Ever Read #2
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FREEDOM OF SPEECH HAS A NICE RING TO IT, unfortunately, it is becoming a luxury more than a right.
The self-styled free speech warriors of the right are anything but—they never have been, and never will be. The MAGA definition of free speech is more like a plea to listen to ideas that have already been struck down in the market of public opinion. Notably, this is exactly what freedom of speech actually means. You can say, write, protest and support pretty much whatever you want. In doing so, the implicit agreement is that you will bear the consequences of that speech.
The text of the First Amendment is short, to the point, and unambiguous:
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.
Freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and petition combine to go well beyond letting us say mean things on the internet. To me, none of this really needs to be expounded on, although there is a metric ton of case law that does just that.
We’ve seen the right to assemble wielded en masse with the No Kings rallies, anti-ICE marches in Minnesota, the Occupy Wall Street movement, and other causes that I care about. That, again, is the point. Go out and march for whatever your cause may be, just understand that in doing so, you agree to face the consequences, good, bad, or otherwise.
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Of course, freedom of speech also pertains to money and political spending, so sayeth the Supreme Court. The now-infamous Citizens United decision in 2010 unleashed the beast of dark money that has done more to corrupt modern American politics than any single other event. Now, the John Roberts court is at it again. 16 years ago, the court said money is speech, regardless of where the money comes from. Now, the court has gutted the landmark Voting Rights Act, which will disenfranchise millions of voters, and ensure that millions more will have to fight for proper representation.
Here’s how Richard L. Hasen puts it in Slate:
The Supreme Court itself has shown itself to be the enemy of democracy. If and when Democrats retake control of the political branches, it will be incumbent on them not only to write new voting legislation protecting minority voters and all voters in the ability to participate fairly in elections that reflect the will of all the people; they will also have to consider reform of the Supreme Court itself, a conclusion I had been resisting until the court made this unavoidable.
Hasen is hardly some fire-breathing liberal. His legal analysis has been straight as an arrow for as long as I’ve been reading his work, and for him to call the decision in Louisiana v. Callais the high court’s “worst ruling in a century” is really something. Seemingly within minutes of the ruling coming down, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry suspended congressional primaries that were already open to early voting. That’s right, they are coming for elections.
The fact is that voting, and the representation that is the product of it, is the highest form of free speech. The conservative activist class has been working to restrict that right for decades, and the Roberts court has proven to be fertile ground for the worst inclinations of conservative jurisprudence.
This is another cog in the MAGA machine, another lever by which Trump II and its cohorts can destroy American institutions.
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Then there’s the speech aspect of free speech. Somehow, Jimmy Kimmel has become the avatar for what free speech is, and what Trump says it isn’t. In September of 2025, Kimmel was pulled off the air after pressure from Trump and his information attack dog, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. ABC/Disney caved, local affiliates refused to air the show, and Kimmel’s studio was dark for a few days. This time, ABC/Disney is holding firm (for now). Carr is among the most dangerous of the Trump lackey class, and there’s no reason to think that will change. He is trying to put the screws to ABC again, this time with Kimmel. He will try again. And again. And again.
This is not about Kimmel and satire; it’s about the government working overtime to stifle you. Here’s my message to all the would-be suck-ups: It will never be enough. Need proof? Look at the companies that tried to satiate Trump’s need for tribute.
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33.33% of 2026 is already over. What will you do with the remaining 66.66%? LMK and I’ll see you made it all the way down here
One of the Best Things I’ve Ever Read #2
We’re aiming to create the the best reading list possible. It’s quite simple—we are crowdsourcing the writing that has stuck with you, that one piece you read last month, last year, or 20 years ago, that has stuck in your brain. This week, it’s me, taking liberty with my space.
Title: “The Falling Man”
By: Tom Junod, Esquire (2003)
From me:
Since 9/11, I’ve consumed countless pieces of content about the attacks in all formats—newspaper stories, books, TV shows (I reviewed four of them for the NYT) and, of course, magazine essays. By far the most memorable item is this 2003 piece in Esquire. Junod transforms a split-second photograph of a 9/11 victim into a deep, philosophical exploration of human dignity at the end of the world. On the 20th anniversary of the attacks, the writer was on one of my favorite podcasts, discussing the piece and its legacy.
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