Ben East Books

Tag: Free speech

  • Monuments, Torches, & Ketchup

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    by

    Ben East
    in

    Regardless of where you stand on the removal of monuments to Confederate slavery and racism, one thing is clear: the decades-long struggle of non-smokers everywhere goes entirely forgotten, with nary a statue.* In the 1970s the restaurants my family frequented offered non-smokers three tables at best. We might wait half an hour just to get…

  • Hands Off My Free Speech (Round II)

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    by

    Ben East
    in

    A very important American institution has come under attack. I’m not talking about those resonating pillars of freedom enshrined in the Bill of Rights, the First and Second Amendments. I’m not talking about the Bill of Rights or the Constitution at all. This American institution is far more sacred than any of that. This American institution gave us…

  • Hands Off My Free Speech

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    by

    Ben East
    in

    Hate-speech promoter Pam Geller reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld’s dentist, Tim Whately and his quest for total joke-telling immunity. When Jerry tells Father Curtis he thinks Whately converted to Judaism for the jokes, the priest asks, “And this offends you as a Jewish person?” “No,” says Jerry. “It offends me as a comedian.” Geller’s irrational defense of…

  • Freedom of Expression

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    by

    Ben East
    in

    The killing of Charlie Kirk ignited a firestorm over freedom of expression and speech rights in the United States.