Banker: “It should be illegal to start bank runs by spreading mistaken alarms about deposit soundness.”
Ag guy: “It should be illegal to falsely impugn the safety of America’s food supply.”
Hollywood celeb: “It should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV.“
3 Comments
I think paying less attention to celebrities is among the healthiest steps one could take in avoiding body image hangups. But I understand why Ms. Lawrence would not want to bring that message to a prime-time Barbara Walters interview.
But paid-for-speech is unlimited.
Political convention protesters: protest messages confined to small fenced area 3 miles from convention location.
Political convention organizers: organized and able to spread message across multiple medias because of the money involved and media companies with interlinked profit seeking goals.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s the suppressors of free speech in this country were on the right, notably the McCarthyites. Since the 1960s a panoply of groups, nearly all on the Left, have taken over the role of attacking free expression. The evidence is seen on college campuses (speech codes and shouting down of conservative speakers) , vitriol against those opposed to gay marriage directed by GLAAD, those opposed to open borders (LULAC, MALDEF) and so on. As for celebrities, it is sad to realize that more people would pay attention to Jenny MCCarthy on the issue of autism than world-class MDs.