Will Conservatives be Sent to Reeducation Camps?

Silly me, I thought free speech was legal in America. I thought this was a Republic with a Constitution guaranteeing our right to express ourselves? I didn’t know speaking your mind, or expressing your opinions could result in the end of your career, or the confiscation of your property.

Don’t look now but it’s happening - if you’re a conservative.

It’s time to start getting nervous about expressing your views publicly - if you’re a conservative.

It’s time to worry about bans and witch hunts - if you’re a conservative.

What’s next? Reeducation camps, where our fellow citizens are taken away to be brain-washed into changing their views or attitude? Don’t laugh - it’s already happening (see below).

Let me give a few examples of political correctness run amok. Interestingly, in each case I personally disagree with the views expressed, but vehemently disagree with the actions taken against those who expressed the views.

Let’s start with Michael Sam. On Saturday he became the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL. I say congratulations. I’m happy for Sam and personally thought he should have been drafted higher.

In this Feb. 15, 2014, file photo, Missouri's All-American defensive end Michael Sam claps during the Cotton Bowl trophy presentation at halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Missouri and Tennessee in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson, File)

But have we traded one prejudice and civil rights violation for another? Many Americans were offended by Sam publicly caressing and kissing his boyfriend on national TV after his selection. If it’s called “progress” and a sign of “freedom” that two men can openly kiss on national TV, what is it called when someone offended by that same kiss is fined and suspended from their job? Is that progress? Is that free speech?

Ask Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones. He tweeted that he was disgusted and offended by the kiss. Jones was immediately fined and barred from team activities until he finishes "training for his recent comments made on social media." Training? You mean like a “reeducation camp?” You mean the NFL now believes it has the right to “train” it’s employees how to feel and think? Who determines which thinking is accepted?

Don Jones’ comments undoubtedly hurt Michael Sam’s feelings and were offensive to gays.

But that’s not the issue. We are allowed to be as “politically incorrect” as we want in America. We are protected by that silly little thing called the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

[sharequote align="center"]We are protected by that silly little thing called the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.[/sharequote]

Just because you disagree with someone’s opinion, does your employer have the right to suspend you from your job? Fine you? Can that same employer demand “thought training” to get your job back? This was tried with the Vietnamese “reeducation camps.” Millions were imprisoned. Over 165,000 died of abuse, starvation and torture.

This is a football team. Whether you are gay or straight should not matter. But neither should your views on two men kissing. All that should matter is how well you tackle in the open field.

I may not agree with what Don Jones said publicly, but I think the Miami Dolphins and the NFL should be sued for $100 million dollars for violation of the employee rights of Don Jones. He has every right to believe and say what he wants. Where is the public outrage? Where is the ACLU?

You are allowed to express your opinions in America, even if others find them heinous. Didn’t the ACLU defend the rights of a Neo-Nazi group to march in Skokie, Illinois (a city with a large number of Jewish Holocaust survivors)?

ACLU logo. Credit: ACLU

But in this case, the ACLU is surprisingly silent. Have the “thought police” successfully squashed dissent in this country?

If we allow employers like the Dolphins to censure, fine, suspend or fire a player for his thoughts or his political or religious beliefs, have we made progress? Or have we just switched sides. A different group is now in the closet. A different group is running the witch-hunt.

It's happening across America. Free speech is no longer tolerated by the left.

Take the case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She was supposed to receive an honorary degree from Brandeis University as a courageous campaigner for women’s rights. But her honorary degree was cancelled because of student protests.

What were her critics angry about? She is a fierce critic of radical Islam and the way women are treated and mistreated in Muslim societies. So in response to her pointing out that dissent is suppressed in Muslim societies, her free speech was suppressed at Brandeis University.

Even CEO’s of a private business are under attack. Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich recently lost his job for making a donation to support Prop 8, the ballot initiative that barred same-sex marriage in California.

Once again, I happen to disagree with the opinion of this CEO. I personally think government should stay out of our boardrooms and bedrooms. I don't believe government should be involved in "allowing" or not allowing marriage. It's a personal and religious issue.

(Photo: Shutterstock.com)

But the issue here isn’t gay marriage, it’s freedom of speech. Should a CEO in America be fired for his personal belief that marriage is between a man and a woman? Worse, he wasn't fired for leading the battle, but rather just for writing a check to a cause he believed in.

This isn’t supposed to happen in America. Where is the public outrage? Where is the ACLU? Is the free speech of a NFL player, or conservative CEO, or courageous women’s rights crusader worth less than the free speech of a Neo-Nazi group?

I think it’s great that being gay is now openly accepted in America. But does that mean that others should now be forced into the closet? Is that progress? Or is that trading one civil rights violation for another?

[sharequote align="center"]For the first time I’m rooting for the ACLU to take a stand.[/sharequote]

For the first time I’m rooting for the ACLU to take a stand. If not, soon in Obama’s America, Christians who oppose gay marriage or abortion will be forced to the back of the bus. CEO’s will be forced out of their jobs for publicly opposing minimum wage increases. We’ll see signs openly displayed at businesses “Republicans or conservatives need not apply.”

Someday the entire college education system will be taken over by radical leftists who refuse to hire a conservative educator, or who ban conservative speakers at college graduation ceremonies. Oops- that’s already happened.

Where’s Alan Dershowitz when you need him?

Wayne Allyn Root is the national bestselling author of The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide: How to Survive, Thrive and Prosper During Obamageddon. Wayne's Twitter. Wayne's web site.

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