Thread: Dem Rep. Ted Lieu says that he'd 'love to be able to regulate the content of speech'

Dem Rep. Ted Lieu says that he'd 'love to be able to regulate the content of speech'

It may turn out that one of President Trump's greatest achievements will be the left's voluntary unmasking of its ranks as tyrant-wannabes, driven mad by Trump Derangement Syndrome.

December 13, 2018
By Thomas Lifson

It may turn out that one of President Trump's greatest achievements will be the left's voluntary unmasking of its ranks as tyrant-wannabes, driven mad by Trump Derangement Syndrome. Yesterday, appearing on CNN, he actually said out loud that he would "love" to be able to regulate the content of speech but, alas, is prevented by the pesky First Amendment. Watch for yourself (less than two minutes):

Youtube Video https://youtu.be/59pMnfYstZY

David Ruiz of the Free Beacon has the transcript, and we pick up after the host Brianna Keiler discussed Lieu's questioning of Google CEO Sundar Pichai:

I would love to be able to regulate the content of speech. The First Amendment prevents me from doing so, and that's simply a function of the First Amendment, but I think over the long run, it's better the government does not regulate the content of speech."

Now, the second clause of his second sentence is curious. That Congressman Lieu thinks that in the long run, free speech is a good idea suggest that right now, he doesn't think it's a good thing. Does this mean that during the Trump presidency, free speech would be suspended if he had his druthers? Would the "long run" be when Democrats have imported enough impoverished foreigners to guarantee perpetual rule? Or maybe just when Trump is out of office?

Last March, I noted that TDS is driving what I called "the great unmasking of the left."

Driven to desperation by their fury at President Trump's election, his presidency, and Robert Mueller's failure to substantiate the bogus Russia conspiracy fantasy, progressives are escalating their rhetoric, and in the process, unmasking their true beliefs. For decades, they have obscured their real goals, and pretended to be interested in moderate, incremental measures that they believe would be acceptable to mainstream Americans. Using terms like "compassion" and "fairness," they have sought to justify handing more and more power to the state, and the importation of a population amenable to state control of all aspects of life.

But in reaction to President Trump's in-your-face persona and use of the mechanisms of state power for goals they oppose, they have escalated their rhetoric, and in the process exposed their real beliefs that long have been kept hidden from the broader public.

Ted Lieu represents the wealthy West Side of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills and coastal communities to the south, reliably blue, the former district of Henry Waxman. So he's in no danger of losing a general election, assuming he is not blindsided in a primary, the way Joe Crowley was when Ocasio-Cortez took the nomination from him with just a few thousand votes. But Lieu's district does contain a lot f people who make their livings in the entertainment industry, people who depend on the First Amendment's protections. I wonder if he will be called out by anyone other than conservatives.

Image credit: YouTube screen grab.

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Of course you would Ted, but don't worry, Mueller's investigation is doing that for you. Unbeknownst to Americans for the past 250 years, we do not have free speech, free association, free exchange of ideas, free political conversations, free political strategies, free political gatherings, free telephone conversations, free meetings, free assembly or now even free press. Don't worry, Ted, Mueller and his Goons have shut down free speech so far beyond what anything you could dream up or want, there is nothing for you to do to "regulate" speech content.

Ted Lieu is angry that conservatives noticed he said he'd 'love to be able to regulate the content of speech'

His clincher? We're stupid.

December 14, 2018
By Thomas Lifson

That pesky First Amendment once again is frustrating Representative Ted Lieu over items like this one from me: "Dem Rep. Ted Lieu says that he'd 'love to be able to regulate the content of speech.'" Paul Crookston writes in the Free Beacon:

Rep. Ted Lieu (D., Calif.) released a statement Thursday saying he supports the First Amendment and criticizing "conservative media" for mischaracterizing him. ... [O]n CNN Wednesday, Lieu made news by saying, "I would love to be able to regulate the content of speech. The First Amendment prevents me from doing so, and that's simply a function of the First Amendment, but I think over the long run, it's better the government does not regulate the content of speech."

Some questioned whether he's committed to the principle of free speech, given the content of that statement, and he hit back Thursday by saying he considers himself an "ardent defender of the First Amendment." On CNN, he was merely making the point that the First Amendment prevents him from regulating speech.
So what did he mean by saying that he'd "love to be able to regulate the content of free speech"? Who says such things, other than people who lust to silence their opponents?

In the interview, I again stated the First Amendment prevents government from regulating the content of speech. I also made the point that it was the First Amendment that prevents me from regulating speech. I have been, and always will be, an ardent defender of the First Amendment.

Let's try an analogy. What if Ted had said, "I'd love to be able to rape attractive women, but the criminal justice system prevents me from doing so, and that's simply a function of the criminal justice system, but I think over the long run, it's better that the government regulate rape"? Do you think the feminists would be cool with a powerful lawmaker saying that but for the law, he'd be out there raping attractive women?

He slammed "conservative media," including Fox News host Tucker Carlson, for its response to his comment on CNN.

I'm jealous that I was not named, but then, like everyone else Lieu disagrees with, I must be "stupid." Take a look at whom and what he regards as stupid:

Video at the page link

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Wait until the Republicans hold Senate Hearings on the impact of the Mueller Investigation on Free Speech in the United States. It's under siege and Mueller needs to have his ass hauled in there week one of the new Congressional Session to produce documents and answer every question they ask under oath in public on national Tee Vee.