The First Amendment Needs Defending

New York City has criminalized speech in a recent law, mandating a fine of up to $250,000.00 on anyone convicted of uttering the words "illegal alien" or "illegals" in conjunction with someone's employment or housing, deeming such use to be "discrimination".  I get it...they want to protect families from the fear of being suddenly rounded up and deported or losing their jobs for being here undocumented and to become more confident that their local government...including especially the police...will be there in times of emergency to help them.  Still, if it is a federal crime to be here unauthorized then that is a conflict already in place between different parts of our government, and also to make certain words illegal to me flies directly in the face of our Constitution's crucial First Amendment, which elevates free speech as a fundamental human right.  This does not mean that people should not be held accountable for what they say...it's just that the State...in this case New York City...has no business getting involved as a prosecutorial agent.  If their discrimination laws are being violated, then charge them for that, not for saying certain words. For me, I am for better border security, solving the problems in countries like Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras through the good auspices of our government helping their economies, and normalizing the status of those already here over time. But the people who are here illegally...well, the criminalized terms are accurate even if they may offend some...

A manager for an NBA team a few days ago simply Tweeted on his own his support for the Hong Kong people and to keep fighting for freedom.  Keep in mind that he an American living in America, not China.  Yet China has responded by canceling within their own country any events or ties with the National Basketball Association, in spite of the fact that the manager had quickly apologized for his Tweet and removed it...and the league itself expressed regret over what I see as a perfectly legitimate original message.  In this situation our First Amendment was never in question of being threatened since it's another country's government, not our own, that is exerting undue pressure and the NBA is a private concern. Now if you can see what China will do against someone who criticizes it...even indirectly...who is a citizen of a different nation, you can imagine the immense persecution that those residing in that vast, important country must be undergoing for speaking up themselves.  A sober reminder that our own First Amendment needs to be held up high and honored for the treasure that it is...

And finally, not exactly a First Amendment issue...at least yet...is the wave of political correctness, much of it retroactive, that is sweeping this country, especially on the political left.  At the Packers-Cowboys football game in Texas the other day, comedian Ellen DeGeneres and former president George W. Bush were seen sitting together and amiably chatting and laughing, two good friends who are able to step outside their political differences and see each other as human beings.  From the negative reactions I have been seeing...all against Ellen associating with Bush...you would have thought she had said something like "Go Hong Kong" or "illegal alien".  Why does she need to explain being friendly and nice with someone?  Is that how bad it's gotten in this country?!