You Can't Yell Fire in A Crowded Theater

 In America, we have freedom of speech. It was something that was put into our Constitution by the Founding Fathers because they did not want to see people jailed for speaking out against the government. They had seen that enough when the country was a colony under British rule and even Great Britan itself. They had seen the dangers, but also knew that freedom of speech wasn't an exact. As the old saying goes, you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater if there's no fire. The founders also knew that freedom had to extend to the press as well. Something that will be covered elsewhere in this blog.

This brings us to Lauren Boebert, the Republican representative from Colorado. Boebert seems to get emotionally aroused spew hatred. She also seems to get that way when she talks about her Patriotism, as she talks about the flag in such glowing terms you'd think she'd birthed the flag herself. Boebert's dark side has been on display since she stepped foot in Washington, swept in by conservatives seeking outsiders, even if they spewed racist terms. Boebert enjoys attacking anyone who speaks ill of Donald Trump. She also seems to relish asserting falsehoods about members of congress, especially IIhan Omar, a Democratic representative from the state of Minnesota. Boebert recently was given a pulpit on Fox News, a network notorious for playing fast and loose with the facts, often casting them aside to appease their audience. Boebert insisted that Omar is a terrorist, despite having zero evidence to back the claim. She's called Omar, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts as the "Jihad Squad", despite the fact that Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley are not Muslim. It's a cute phrase that plays well with her target base, a group seeking any reason to despise anyone from the Middle East. However, it has zero basis in reality. 

When Rep. Omar called Boebert seeking an apology, she was rebuffed, to which Boebert took to social media to once again air baseless claims that Omar is a terrorist. And that led to Omar to play for the public voice messages she has received, essentially threatening her with assassination. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, who cheered on rioters as they attempted to overthrow the U.S. Government in an actual attempt to terrorize the public and Congress itself, cheered on her friend Boebert. 

Boebert is free to say what she wants, but she's not free from repercussions from her words. Rep. Oman would be justified in suing for libel. One could even argue that Boebert's words are a call to raise arms against anyone from the Middle East. Boebert is essentially yelling "fire" in a public space and enjoying the panic that ensues. And Boebert's words aren't just limited to Rep. Omar. Boebart has called for the public to ignore the advice of Dr. Fauci in dealing with the COVID virus. Setting aside the fact that Fauci is an expert with several degrees and Boebert's medical knowledge comes from what she sees on Grey's Anatomy. Well, maybe that's a little too high brow for her. And the whole idea of showing compassion for others might make her physically ill. Let's just say when it comes to medical and scientific knowledge, Boebert is several steps below Dr. Nick Riveria. And her words about ignoring COVID protocols by claiming her freedoms are being infringed upon is actually getting people killed. It does make a nice sound bite for her base though. 

Now we're going to talk about freedom of the press, and it will tie into everything about Boebert. There are standards when it comes to the press, they simply cannot print whatever they like and be free from repercussions. Boebert, for all her bluster about free speech, has expressed support for Donald Trump, who by the way, is not a fan of a free press, which is why he chose Mike Pence to be his running mate when he ran for office. Pence, as governor of Indiana, attempted to establish "Indiana Today", was he claimed would tell the citizens of Indiana the last happenings in the state. It was, in reality, a state run media outlet that only ran favorable pieces about the state under Pence's control. Nothing could be aired that did not speaking in glowing terms of Pence and his administration. Indiana Today was later the subject of a lawsuit and was shut down, as the courts rightfully ruled that state run media outlets were not in good faith with state powers. To be honest, state run media is typically a feature of places like China and the Philippines, the later of whom Trump praised their leader, President Duterte on how he handles the unfavorable press. Just so were clear, Duterte is not a fan of freedom of the press, and has held public executions of journalist who dare print the truth. Trump himself has shown he feels freedom of the press needs to be chilled. He called upon the FCC to revoke the license of outlets such as CNN and MSNBC because they weren't airing news that painted him in glowing terms. He would even assert false claims that a news outlet was dying, like he did several times with the New York Times and Washington Post. 

Boebert is attempting to use her freedom of speech to draw hatred to a group simply over their religious beliefs. She does this under the cloak of being a patriot. Freedom of speech is a wonder thing and it one of the aspects that makes this country great. The danger comes when the likes of Boebert pervert into something unnatural. Something is sued to fuel hatred and bigotry. In the end, Boebert is no different than the racist orator in the film Don't Be A Sucker. Difference is that was just a film and any havoc that came from his speech would be contained in the film. Boebert's hate speech has gone unchecked and it won't be long before her words inspire someone to act with tragic consequences. I just hope it never comes to that.