Almost as soon as Attorney General Pam Bondi said that federal law enforcement would target anyone for hate speech, she was backpedaling amid backlash from across the political spectrum.
It was a rare and welcome instance where both sides of a deeply divided nation came to agree on something. But how long will it last?
On a podcast, Bondi said, “There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society….We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”
Your thoughts, comments, and ideas are always welcome here. But we ask you to please be mindful and respectful. Threatening or crude language doesn't persuade anybody and makes the conversation less enjoyable for fellow L.Dotters.
Free speech is free speech. It is my right to insult you as it your right to insult me. The left has said incredibly disgusting things about Charlie and it their right to do so. A crime is what you do or don't do, not what you say.
You can say whatever you want, it's called Free Speech. I don't have to listen, nor pay any attention, to you. That's also called Free Speech. Until threats of violence are made, go ahead, there's nothing you can say that can hurt me.
Reply 3 - Posted by: mc squared 9/18/2025 11:09:40 AM (No. 2005616)
You can say anything you want to, but if I employ you and you disparage my business, or cause me to suffer losses, I can fire you.
Call it free speech with possible consequences.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about freedom of speech. TheSCOTUS has addressed these many times. This is a pretty good explanation:
https://lawforseniors.org/lifelong-legal-learning/freedom-of-speech-what-it-is-and-what-it-is-not
The First Amendment is not there to protect speech that you agree with. We have to allow people to reveal their vile natures otherwise we're just setting up a pressure cooker. "Whereof by their fruits ye shall know them."
If your speech is condoning or encouraging physical violence then it is NOT protected.
I will be the first to admit that both sides have had people speaking out of bounds but you also have to consider who your audience is and the outcome. The Left is far more volatile. THEY are the ones that have been rioting and torching cities while the Right tends to gather peacefully. Trump held massive rallies and violence was pretty much nonexistant at them. So ask yourself, if you know your base is volatile and you are egging them on, WHAT do you think the likely outcome will be?
In contrast, the Right tends to ask for people's support through money and votes, not physical or verbal assaults.
The only problem with what Bondi said is that "hate speech" is so poorly defined. The Left applies it to anything that is said that they don't agree with; which is almost everything that Trump says and does. If I say the Left is disgusting, that might be called hate speech by some but it is not illegal. If I say the Left should be horsewhipped, that is hate speech that is illegal because it calls for violence.
i see our govt have done nothing to help the free speech of the tv celebrity who had to flee england
for cracking a joke.
he arrived here in AZ, was confronted by armed thugs in TX who beat him and tossed him in a jail cell
was that some dainty dish to set before the king? liberty and justice for a few?
Given the national anguish and pain over the assassination of Charlie Kirk, you might think that the leftist big media would at least be treading softly right now, especially given the overwhelming evidence that’s already been made public about Kirk’s alleged assassin. But you would be wrong.
We’ve already addressed the lies and exaggerations told about Kirk to somehow justify his murder. Now the left is trying to come up with a counter-narrative about his assassin. Kirk wasn’t murdered by an unhinged leftist; he was killed by a MAGA adherent. It’s a lie on stilts.
Let’s start with what we know:
Almost as soon as Attorney General Pam Bondi said that federal law enforcement would target anyone for hate speech, she was backpedaling amid backlash from across the political spectrum.
It was a rare and welcome instance where both sides of a deeply divided nation came to agree on something. But how long will it last?
On a podcast, Bondi said, “There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society….We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”
How do Americans feel about President Donald Trump’s tariffs? As the U.S. Supreme Court mulls whether the president even has the constitutional power to impose tariffs, the general public’s feelings about the import tax is at best ambivalent, at worst hostile, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.
Along with interest rate policy and soaring federal spending, Trump’s tariffs loom as among the most significant governmental economic policies proposed in the last two decades.
So what do average Americans think about them?
In the latest national online I&I/TIPP Poll
It’s safe to say that no one knew the scope of Charlie Kirk’s influence until after his death. What he was able to achieve on college campuses has no parallel. This country desperately needs someone who will do the same in our big cities.
Charlie – we feel it’s more appropriate, more human to use his first name rather than his last last name, a traditional newspaper treatment that under the circumstances feels vulgar – was known for his argument that college was a scam.
But his real contribution was challenging students to cast off the conditioning that has been imposed on
All last year, we were treated to a steady stream of stories about the “huge” and “baffling” gap between the public’s negative views about the economy and its “actual performance.”
Our favorite “economist” Paul Krugman was apoplectic. “Why are so many Americans still telling pollsters that the economy is in bad shape” when “it’s hard to overstate just how good recent economic numbers have been.”
Last week, the government issued two reports that explain why. And the reason is simple. The experts were wrong. The public was right.
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after a string of glaring mistakes in its jobs
The assassination of Charlie Kirk was unlike anything any of us on the Issues & Insights editorial board have seen in our lifetimes.
Kirk didn’t hold any political power. He wasn’t rich. He didn’t call for or incite violence. He was a young man of strong beliefs who enjoyed debating other young people on the big issues of the day.
And for that, he was brutally murdered.
You’d think this would cause even his fiercest critics to stop for a moment and take stock in what just happened. If only out of consideration for his wife and two young children.
With the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the far left seems to be morphing into a kind of political death cult. No longer satisfied with trying to win elections, the far left and its allies now routinely seem to wish instead for their political foes to die, and even to excuse political murder.
It was just two weeks ago that many on the left were wringing their hands in glee as they fantasized and wished for President Donald Trump’s death after he took a few days off from the stresses of his office. False reports of his death were
If Americans were asked to vote right now on whether the Federal Reserve should continue existing, the central bank might have a tough time staying in business. Why? Voters overwhelmingly think interest rates and prices are too high and that the Fed is not doing enough to bring them down, as the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.
There’s no question that average Americans are keenly awaiting a cut in interest rates. And that anticipation no doubt grew last Friday after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a meager 22,000 jobs created in August, with unemployment hitting 4.3%, its highest point since October 2021.
Al Gore famously warned that sea level rise caused by man’s use of fossil fuels was going to kill us. Barack Obama implied that he had magic powers that would control surging sea levels. A fresh study shows just how dishonest this pair and the many others who did their best to misinform the public have been.
Gore’s 2006 propaganda film told us to beware of sea levels rising by 20 feet, devastating New York and Florida. The uber-narcissistic Obama promised an adoring crowd that his nomination to be the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential nominee “was the moment when the
When President Donald Trump tapped economist EJ Antoni to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the elites in Washington clucked their thick tongues. Antoni might have a doctorate in economics, but he’s not “widely recognized”! He’s tweeted some things that turned out wrong! Worse still, he seems to like Trump!
But on Friday, the BLS proved once again why it is in desperate need of an overhaul by an outsider such as Antoni.
When it released its monthly jobs report on Friday, the BLS said the economy had created 22,000 jobs in August – a weak number that generated countless headlines.
Following President Pen-And-Phone and President Autopen, President Donald Trump is also making use of the White House quill. But his directives have tended to be more practical than political. For instance, last week he issued an executive order banning employee collective bargaining at a number of federal agencies.
The American people should be grateful that he’s willing to take on the bureaucracy that has nullified voters’ preferences and become an unaccountable political force – the real power in the country.
To support our point, we look back at the Obama administration’s IRS targeting of Tea Party
With ongoing efforts to halt the Russia-Ukraine war, interest-rate fights with the Fed, and continued talks over tariffs, among other things, President Donald Trump is one of the busiest chief executives ever. But how’s he doing? Republicans like his leadership, but Democrats don’t, and independents are lukewarm, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.
Each month, I&I/TIPP asks the following question about Trump’s leadership: “Overall, is your opinion of Donald Trump generally favorable, generally unfavorable, or are you not familiar enough to say one way or the other?”
In September’s national online I&I/TIPP Poll,
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) claimed that just because people commit crimes, it “doesn’t make them a criminal,” adding that it depends on the person’s “mindset.”
During an interview with “genderqueer” Netflix star Jonathan Van Ness, Crockett was asked about having worked as a public defender, and what she wished that “people knew.” Crockett responded by explaining that when you are “assigned to only deal with indigent people” you end up learning “a lot about yourself.”
“It’s just understanding what ends up having people become criminally impacted really informs so much of what I do legislatively, right?”
Progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is eyeing a run for president in 2028, according to a report Friday.
The socialist “Squad” member is gearing up to seek higher office as she’s attempted to grow her presence across the country and the Empire State, people familiar with her operation told Axios in a Friday report.
Ocasio-Cortez and her team are deciding on whether to run for the Senate or the White House, sources told the outlet.
he New York lefty has joined Sen. Bernie Sanders — a former presidential candidate — on his national “Fighting Oligarchy” tour while she’s also held town halls across upstate New York this summer.
French First Lady Brigitte Macron will present photographic evidence to a U.S. court to prove she is a woman as part of her defamation lawsuit against Candace Owens.
Mrs Macron and her husband, President Emmanuel Macron, filed suit in July over “substantial reputational damage” against Owens addressing what they called repeated “falsehoods” that Mrs Macron is in fact secretly a man, as Breitbart News reported.
Owens has propagated unsubstantiated claims the first lady was born male and used to go by the name Jean-Michel Trogneux — who in reality is Mrs Macron’s older brother.
In a recent social media post, an Oberlin student called for a return to “political assassinations” following conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death last week, when he was shot and killed while speaking at a Utah university. Oberlin College and Conservatory President Carmen Twillie Ambar confirmed Thursday that Julia Xu attends the college. “Last week, an Oberlin student published a personal social media post that glorified political assassinations and incorrectly linked this ideology to the perspective of a faculty member,”... “The student has subsequently issued a public apology and expressed deep regret.” Ambar said that the comments do not reflect the college and conservatory.
Nearly 60 House Democrats on Friday voted down a resolution honoring the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk — including “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who accused the slain conservative activist of being a “bigot.”
Four of the Dems who voted “nay” hail from New York — AOC, Yvette Clarke, Adriano Espaillat, and Nydia Velazquez — and three represent New Jersey: Reps. Robert Menendez, Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver.
The resolution condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the assassination of the Turning Point USA co-founder and commended law enforcement for arresting and charging Kirk’s alleged killer.
Traditionally, it’s called “the people’s house” because the House of Representatives is supposed to represent and reflect the people to whom the congressional members represent. Republicans in the House threatened to withhold votes if Speaker Mike Johnson did not pass an enhanced House Member Security Funding Bill that includes a payment of $25,000/month per lawmaker to hire their own private security. This is in addition to the pre-existing security packages the House members receive.
The monthly funds would be designated for use hiring private security when the representatives are not in Washington DC. It is the republican wing pushing this demand.
The man who pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh identifies as a transgender woman, according to newly revealed court documents.
In a recent court filing, Nicholas Roske’s defense attorneys call their client “Sophie” and explain in a footnote that they will use female pronouns to refer to him “out of respect.”
“The case is captioned as United States v. Nicholas John Roske,” lawyers for Roske state in the filing, obtained by the Daily Wire. “That name remains Ms. Roske’s legal name, and she has not asked to recaption the case. Out of respect for Ms. Roske,
The House of Representatives passed a resolution on Friday condemning political violence and honoring Charlie Kirk, but nearly a hundred Democrats refused to support it. The final tally was 310-58, with every Republican voting in favor and 96 Democrats either voting against it or refusing to take a stand at all by voting present. That raw number is impossible to ignore: Close to 100 Democrats balked at denouncing political violence when the resolution also praised Kirk’s legacy.
This becomes even more striking when you remember what happened just a few months ago.
Back in June, the House unanimously
President Donald Trump's $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times has been tossed, for now.
Calling the president's 85-page lawsuit "decidedly improper and impermissible," a federal judge in Tampa threw it out on Friday and gave him 28 days to file a new complaint that had to be under 40 pages.
U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday blasted the Trump suit for alleging only two acts of defamation, yet "Count I appears on page eighty, and Count II appears on page eighty-three." He also criticized the suit's flowery descriptions about Trump and overly political language, writing a complaint is not a "public forum for vituperation
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib had a fiery back-and-forth with Florida's Byron Donalds during a House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday.The outspoken Democrat blasted President Donald Trump's Washington DC crime crackdown, slipping in a jab about the National Guard decision by the Trump administration as "fascist" during the hearing with Mayor Muriel Bowser and other DC leaders.
"We can't be passive right now ... nobody over there should take this personally," she said, motioning at the Republican side of the chamber. "It's really important we stand up against this fascist takeover - that's not a bad word, it's a fact."
(snip)
At that point, Donalds interjected, bringing up the fascist remark.
US Representative Ilhan Omar doubled down on her critique of Charlie Kirk and his camp at a town hall meeting in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, on Saturday, September 13, footage shows.
More than 100 filed into the Elim Lutheran Church for the gathering, where bag checks and metal detectors were implemented as part of a heightened security effort amid the wave of recent political violence in Minnesota and the US.
Almost an hour into the meeting, a man criticized Omar for comments she made on Mehdi Hasan’s Zeteo News regarding various right-leaning figures.“So I’m just wondering, which approach is better?” questioned the man.
ASHLAND — Ashland County Fair officials booted the Ashland County Democratic Party booth on Thursday following the political party’s sale of “offensive buttons” directed toward President Donald Trump. The Ashland County Fair posted on Facebook around 8 p.m. on Thursday that it had been “made aware of offensive buttons in the Democrat booth.” The Ashland County Fair Board would like to let you know this afternoon we were made aware of offensive buttons in the Democrat booth. We are a family friendly fair and do not condone this from any vendor/merchant. We apologize for those who saw the display. The democrat party has been asked to pack their booth up for this year so they will not be here the remaining of our Fair week. This is not political, we just can't have this at our County Fair!
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