Trump NewSpeak and the Courts

Did you know that Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California) told CNN: “What the American public wants is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight. This is an actual fight for democracy.” Edward Martin, Trump’s interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, the chief federal prosecutor in Washington, fired off a letter to Garcia demanding that he “clarify” his remarks. “This sounds to some like a threat to Mr. Musk,” Martin wrote. “We take threats against public officials very seriously.”

An attempt to intimidate and squelch free speech. Based on a willful misinterpretation of the "weapons" used in the metaphorical "bar fight" of political discourse. This is but one example among many current and ongoing attempts to clamp down on what you can say about this current world in which we live in (as my freshmen used to say). Trump intends to teach us new-speak and rewire our brains.

The biggest, most comprehensive crackdown on speech is the current crusade against anything labeled "woke," the infamous alphabet of D.E.I. One of Trump’s ExecOrders banned D.E.I. efforts and threatened organizations receiving federal money not to even say words like "diversity" and "inclusion," let alone practice fair hiring. 

Brendan Carr, Trump's vassal chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, warned Comcast Corp. that a statement on its website saying “diversity, equity and inclusion are a core value of our business” might violate federal regulations. No, really. Universities, private companies, and nonprofits around the country "are rapidly removing statements that support DEI for fear of provoking the administration’s wrath" (WashPost). Threats that provoke self-censorship -- also unconstitutional.

One of Trump's departments ordered the censoring from public documents of a whole bunch of words Trump (or Stephen Miller) doesn't like, including “gender” and “inclusion.” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat and a medical doctor, pushed back: "I think that’s [just] the red meat that the president is throwing to the base.”

In Raleigh, House Bill 171 ("Stamp Out Woke"), mimics Trump's dictates about words that have grown offensive to those in power -- you know, diversity, equity, inclusion. Under H 171, no state agency could “promote, support, fund, implement or maintain workplace DEI programs, policies, or initiatives.” The bill instructs the state auditor — Republican Dave Boliek — to conduct periodic audits of state agencies to ensure compliance. A state employee who violates the law could lose their job and face a misdemeanor criminal charge. (WRAL)

So far, U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson has already ruled that Trump's ExecOrder banning D.E.I. violates the First Amendment, because it targets “viewpoints the government wishes to punish and, apparently, attempt to extinguish.” The judge said a requirement that anyone receiving federal grants or contracts must certify that they do not promote D.E.I. “on its face” violates freedom of speech. And threatening action against companies that promote D.E.I., is also “facially unconstitutional,” the judge said. Noting that the administration had not issued similar warnings to those who oppose D.E.I., he added, “That is textbook viewpoint-based discrimination.”

Tell me it wasn't an egregious attack on free speech when Trump banned the Associated Press from the White House press pool for continuing to call the Gulf of Mexico by its long-standing name rather than switching to “Gulf of America,” as Trump has dictated. Go on, tell me. I'll wait.