WSU Trumpet

Recently, and by recently, I mean the last several years, there has been more and more in the press about "Free Speech" and First Amendment rights. Amid all this noise and commotion, I have to wonder if people really understand what free speech is. People tend to think that free speech means that they can say anything they want (or do anything they want) and everyone has to be happy about it and leave them alone. Not so. Free speech never meant that. In accordance with the First Amendment, I do have a constitutional right to (for the most part) say whatever I want. But, it is not a condition of that right that everyone else should be happy with what I say and leave me alone. I have to live with the consequences of what I say.

Contrast that with free beer. I can accept or give away free beer and it doesn't really affect anyone but me. If I give away free beer, the recipient has no further commitment to me after receiving the beer. Likewise, I no longer have a commitment to the recipient of the free beer. Like it or not, they have the beer and I do not. It was free.

But, if I say something to someone that is hurtful (and do it in the name of my "First Amendment Rights") they may or may not continue to have some association with me regarding what I said. And, to top it off, I can't claim immunity from their lashings based on the First Amendment. So, while it is true that we do have free speech rights (which are very precious, God-given rights), they do not absolve us of responsibility for what we say and do.