The most indispensable amendments that the United States has, separating us from the world, are the first amendment and the second amendment. Of course, that doesn’t make us a democracy per se, since we are, and have been since 1776, a constitutional republic. In regard to our amendments, they go hand in hand. For example, excising the first amendment would be much easier if we didn’t have our second amendment and vice versa. In other words, without our second amendment (some believe it is the most essential), we most certainly would not have the first amendment. In today’s society, wearing a MAGA hat has become controversial. Not in the sense of the word “controversial” itself, but rather controversial in its existence and allowance.
In fact, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reviewed a case, “Dodge V. Evergreen School District”, in which a Washington middle school teacher was reportedly wearing a MAGA hat, and the sectarian leftists of the school felt that was “inappropriate” and should not be allowed. As reported by the Gateway Pundit, “Middle school teacher Eric Dodge started to wear his MAGA hat to school meetings in 2019 but principal Caroline Garrett threatened disciplinary actions against Dodge if he continued to wear the hat”. Have we gotten so far off in our morality, but more so our radicalism, that society wants to prosecute conservative thought and get rid of a hat simply for its message? Indeed, we have. It’s infelicitous that our society has reached such a point.
Moreover, the left’s idiosyncrasies are usual. To disagree with them, you will be labeled as a racist, misogynist, transphobic, Islamophobic, and domestic terrorist. The case above is no exception. For example, gateway pundit reports, “Dodge claimed Garrett called him a racist and homophobe for wearing the hat and stated, “you need to have your union rep” if you wear the hat to school anymore”. Sounds like a threat if you ask me. Yet, this Principal will tell you how benevolent and open-minded she is, when the truth is, she feels threatened by conservative thought and principles.
Additionally, the court ruled that such an act was simply Eric Dodge exercising his right to freedom of speech. According to Reuters, the court’s opinion is as follows, “There was no evidence that the teacher, Eric Dodge, had caused any actual disruption by bringing the hat supporting former President Donald Trump to teacher-only training at his Vancouver, Washington, school”. A Trump-appointed judge Danielle Forrest ruled, “Some may not like the political message being conveyed is par for the course and cannot itself be a basis for finding disruption of a kind that outweighs the speaker’s first amendment rights.” Indeed, Judge Forrest is correct in her thesis. There is no law that prohibits a teacher from exercising their right to speech. Just like liberals can wear trump-hating attire, conservatives have the right to express their political beliefs. This has been the case since 1776.
The first amendment as printed is, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or 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”. The first five words, “Congress shall make no law”, are the most important words in the text of the amendment. Indeed, for congress to make a law going against one’s personal beliefs, would be to send the United States into the darkness of totalitarianism.
Accordingly, what threat do the words “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”, have on society? Conservatives don’t have an issue with liberals sharing their liberal philosophies, or wearing Biden 2024 hats, of which there are very few. So, why the outrage? In many respects, conservatives have become the open-minded ones, while liberals have become the parochial individuals, who believe the only truth that exists is the one they contemplate.
All in all, the court’s ruling is a win for freedom of speech. Worldwide, nations don’t allow their citizens freedom of speech. For to speak out is to be thrown into a cell, never to see the outside world again. Some places, such as Cuba, use vituperative methods to punish those who speak out against the atrocities of the Cuban regime. I have a personal story and is perhaps the very reason I became a Conservative and studied politics very closely. My grandfather told me this story: He was out in the streets of Havana with his brother, protesting Fidel Castro and the malevolence of communism. Consequently, my grandfather was beaten and imprisoned in one of the concentration camps in the Pinar Del Rio province of Cuba. His imprisonment came in 1969, until his release in 1979. In 1979, he came to Florida, obtaining the status of a political prisoner. My grandfather was a victim of the totalitarianism of the Cuban communists. Why? Simply for exercising what we know as freedom of speech, and what the Cuban people know as death, for to speak out is to die.
This totalitarian form of politics is not far from our shores. In several states such as California and New York, conservatives will get beaten for simply sharing their politics. In the 2020 RNC, Senator Rand Paul was beaten, nearly killed, by Antifa activists and others. Why? Rand Paul is a Republican. Our first amendment is becoming diminished day by day. If this calamity continues, the people of the United States will lose their freedoms. We will become Cuba or Venezuela. Both countries were pulchritudinous, and prosperous at one point, and have now become a death sentence for those who reside in them. As President Reagan assiduously pointed out, “If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth”.
