😶 Preaching Abroad What we Punish at Home

Truth and consequences.

Yesterday: civil rights policy. Today: I'd be killing it as a stand-up comedy act

📡 On my Radar

Once, I traveled the world as a representative of the U.S. government, evangelizing America's commitment to free speech and religious liberty. To foreign counterparts, often skeptical, I would boast: "Even saying the most hateful things is not against the law in the U.S.”

I'd describe how the U.S. had become a refuge for people fleeing the historical birthplaces of their faiths — a country where even the Jedi and The Force could receive government recognition.🤺

Could I make those claims today with a straight face?¹ How would I approach foreign officials and offer our system as inspiration when our government is now punishing people for speaking their minds?

The hypocrisy would be breathtaking. My presence in those international settings would move from what was previously a little presumptuous to now completely absurd.

This stark reversal illustrates how dramatically our civil liberties have eroded in just three months.

But America's moral authority doesn't rest with any ad…