“What Jefferson was saying was, ‘Hey…we left this England place 'cause it was bogus; so if we don't get some cool rules ourselves, pronto, we'll just be bogus too.”
-Jeff Spicoli on American History in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’
A few years back, a good friend of mine got fired from a senior position at a prominent media company. No, he didn’t grope an intern or get caught on a Jumbotron canoodling with his head of HR.
His real “crime”? Doing his job—rearranging the company’s org chart—which upset the wrong colleague. That employee then dug through years of his Twitter history until they found a couple of clumsy but harmless jokes and presented them as evidence that my pal is a hateful bigot. (I assure you he is not.)
Unfortunately, he was a victim of an era when a social media-empowered mob could topple executives, professors, or journalists—especially, but not exclusively, straight white males—with the faintest proof that their target was out of step with the prevailing, woke orthodoxy. To quote Spicoli, paraphrasing Jefferson: it was bogus. Like, totally bogus.
Fast-forward to yesterday, when ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel for something he said on his show this week. I had flashbacks to the “Woke Scare” of the early 2020s.
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble…”
This↑↑ is the FIRST Amendment to the Constitution, the one on which all the others are predicated. It not only says “up your arse!” to King George, it establishes that, above all else, individuals have the right to speak their mind.
Those who believe in small government, as I mostly do, should embrace this every bit as powerfully as they do the amendments that follow. Because, like the right to bear arms, a free press is an essential check against a potentially tyrannical government.
And isn’t that the whole point? Isn’t that the freedom we hold most dear?
So yes, when VP Vance criticizes the UK for backsliding on free expression, I cheer. But when, months later, he shrugs and says, “You shouldn’t be protected from being fired for being a disgusting person,” I cringe. Then the Attorney General muses about redefining permitted expression, and the FCC chair threatens ABC’s broadcast license, promising—in very creepy language—to do it “the easy way or the hard way.”
That’s not leadership, that’s muscle. And it’s terrifying.
Yes, the murder of Charlie Kirk by a lunatic with a deer rifle was horrific. But assassinations aren’t an argument for curbing dissent—they’re proof that we need to protect it. A panicked crackdown on open dialogue is the exact opposite of what Jefferson and the Founders had in mind.
Based on the limited information we have, Kimmel’s insinuation the shooter was MAGA appears to be quite inaccurate—and yes, it was a stupid thing to say. But that’s why we need journalists—from Fox, MSNBC, Substack, wherever—to navigate this hall of mirrors, demand the release of all the evidence without fear of retribution, and share the truth with the public.
Cancel culture by any party gets in the way of this kind of inquiry. It was bogus when Nixon threatened the Washington Post’s TV licenses during their Watergate investigation. It was bogus when the Biden administration coerced Twitter and Facebook to censor COVID “misinformation” (aka, facts). And it’s bogus now.
The price we pay for freedom of speech is tolerating our fellow citizens’ misguided opinions. Hannah Einbender can rant about Palestine at the Emmys. Zohran Mamdani can butcher Economics 101. The rest of us can roll our eyes, change the channel, and vote for someone else.
In the long run, the marketplace of ideas will win out. But only if it is a free market, without interference from spiteful colleagues, the woke mob, or a heavy-handed Executive Branch.
This administration is on a path that threatens everyone’s liberty. As Spicoli might say: We need some cool rules, pronto.
THE END (But keep reading ↓↓↓)
This week on the Reasonably Happy podcast: Craigslist founder, Craig Newmark (find it here on Apple or here on Spotify).
Craig founded Craigslist with the goal of helping his neighbors with life’s big and little tasks, like finding an apartment, a roommate, or a job. As the site took off in popularity, he made the very purposeful decision to under-monetize.
Despite these altruistic intentions (or perhaps because of them), Craig amassed a fortune worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Today, he spends his time trying to solve the “problem” of how to give that away as efficiently and impactfully as possible.
I really enjoyed learning more about Craig’s journey, the Sunday school lessons that inform his worldview, and how he is going about allocating his wealth. You should listen!
That is all. Carpe diem!
“I’m here and you’re here. Doesn’t that make it our time?”
Great article Paul.
While the first amendment might not protect us from each other, it serves as a good model for how we should behave. People will say and do stupid stuff (and should be willing to bear the consequences that follow) but punishing speech is a slippery slope. Love the eternal wisdom of Jeff Spicoli. :-)