I am of the opinion that our most important right, as Americans, is one of the rights afforded us under the First Amendment to the Constitution, the right to free speech. The right of free speech provides us the opportunity to freely express our viewpoint, to publicly disagree with each other and the powers that be, to speak truth to power, to engage in dialogue and debate regardless of one’s knowledge of the facts, to actively participate in meaningful discussion and debate and to have a free press.
Most importantly, all of this, and more, is a gift to us from our forefathers. It is given so that we may participate in our democracy without fear of retribution and retaliation. It is a bedrock element of our democracy.
With this right comes an obligation. The obligation is to access this right in a positive and constructive way and to refrain from using this right in a manner which negatively affects our lives together. The inappropriate use of free speech is often exemplified by people engaging in deliberate deception, the spreading of half-truths, use of outright falsehoods and the perpetration of unwarranted and unfounded personal attacks, to name but a few. One only need look to the Twitter feed of the current occupant of the White House to see an example of the effects of using the free speech right in a negative way.
One of the reasons many of us choose to live in this community is because of its historical acceptance of a diversity of viewpoints, opinions, lifestyles and views of individual freedom. With this diversity has come, not always but more often than not, a general acceptance of others even if their views and opinions are significantly different from our own.
Unfortunately, in recent days, we have experienced our very own incarnation of the inappropriate use of this sacred right to free speech by certain members of a small, but vocal, group of citizens bent on destroying the reputations of a number of our elected county officials and the destruction of the professional life of Jeff Cadwell. The leader of this race to the bottom is Garry Gamble. Mr. Gamble is certainly entitled to his opinions and to his right to express those opinions.
However, any clear-thinking and well-informed citizen will recognize Mr. Gamble’s use of half-truths, falsehoods and personal attacks, sometimes cloaked in religious hypocrisy, as an attempt to negate the will of the majority of voters in Cook County who, it must be noted, previously rejected him and his way of conducting himself. Perhaps the rumors are true and Mr. Gamble is planning on a return to political life in the near future. If true, I am convinced he will meet the same fate. As he should.
All of this is not intended to negate the right of any person to his/ her opinion on taxes, Mr. Cadwell’s performance, or any other element of our lives together. Such is Garry Gamble’s right, as it is the right of his followers. It is, however, intended to remind us all of our obligations to each other and to our democracy to reject those who would tear us apart in an attempt to claim the moral high ground as their own, at the expense of others.
Finally, the Cook County News- Herald cannot be held harmless in this debate. The apparent abrogation of the fundamental responsibilities that come with the right to publish, also afforded under the First Amendment, says something significant about the paper’s desire and intent to provide the “news” with journalistic integrity.
Leave a Reply