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How Absolute is the "Freedom of Expression"?

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By Frank Shannon

Published: January 3, 2007

Brandon, FL - Brandon, FL - Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
From the First Amendment
To the U.S. Constitution
 
A few weeks ago we looked at the First Amendment's protection of our freedom to practice religion, and of the fabrication by some of the "separation of church and state" in regards to the Constitution.

There's been equally gross distortion of the rest of the First Amendment, particularly with regard to a so-called "freedom of expression."

Just as the notion of a "separation of church and state" exists neither in the First Amendment nor anywhere else in the Constitution, neither does the phrase "freedom of expression." Over the years, however, liberal courts have seen fit to extend freedom of expression to encompass artistic, musical, visual and symbolic expressions. Exceptions to free speech – obscenity, defamation, breach of the peace, incitement to crime, "fighting words," and sedition – unfortunately have seen an increased inclusion into this realm.

Freedom of speech had a specific meaning to the Founding Fathers. The speech they sought the freedom to engage in was political speech. By signing their names to the Declaration of Independence, the ultimate form of courageous political expression, the Founding Fathers put everything at risk, and more than a few of them lost families, homes and fortunes in the American Revolution. Their idea of free speech had a decidedly different definition than what passes for it today.

Take, for instance, the arts. The National Endowment for the Arts exists to funnel taxpayer dollars to the "artsy crowd." This agency, established by Congress in 1965, realized its first appropriations a year later to the tune of $2,898,308. This past year, the NEA's 40th, taxpayers were stuck with a bill for $124,406,353. Much of the "art" is often obscene or offensive. America's reached an absurd point when we taxpayers are forced to pay to be offended. Adding insult to injury is that nowhere in the Constitution is the government charged with the purchase of art. If someone is considered an "artist," they shouldn't be counting on taxpayers to subsidize them. Either there's a market for your work or there's not, in which case, it's time to find another means of earning a living.

Things get no better on the state and local level. Florida's Art in State Buildings program, established in 1979, requires that up to one-half of one percent of the costs of constructing new state buildings be set aside to purchase or commission artwork for permanent display.

Hillsborough County did that one better in 1989, adding that any new construction or renovation of a county facility with a budget more than $250,000 must include an amount equal to one percent of the budget for the inclusion of art for public spaces within the facility.

Worse, is the city of Tampa, a city with a track record of wasting taxpayer dollars. Anyone who's driven along Bayshore Boulevard lately can attest to the presence of several "sculptures" that would be more productive as artificial reefs – plus they'd be out of sight to all but scuba divers.

Another form of artistic expression goes on in places like the infamous bikini bar in Valrico.

Somehow there are those who consider women dancing around a pole artistic. And there are those who locate such a business in a community where the majority does not want it in close proximity to their families. So if you want to define obscenity in terms of a community's standards, that exception has gone out the window.

Coming off another political season, most would agree that defamation can no longer be considered an exception to freedom of speech. Rather, it's a political pastime. From my own experience as a candidate, I'm all too familiar with defamatory attack mailers and commercials. Truth, it seems, has become an inconvenience to some, and lies and slander handy political tools.

Making a bona fide political statement is great, regardless of your political or ideological alignment.

That's what the First Amendment was designed to protect. While our own individual voices might seem ineffective, we have the right to join with like-minded Americans in single-issue organizations like the National Rifle Association, the Sierra Club, Right to Life, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, ad infinitum, so as to amplify our voices. It's just a matter of each American knowing their rights and being willing to exercise them.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil," said political philosopher and theorist Edmund Burke, "is that good men do nothing."

Frank Shannon is a longtime conservative activist and writer. He can be contacted at FXShannon@aol.com.

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