by Robert M. Traxler

It is clear that folks are lining up into camps filled with hate and vitriol, both the progressives and the conservatives. Try as one may, the other side will not allow the other to be civil. Now this on a national level is one thing, but calling people Nazis and saying I am spreading Nazi lies in this publication is uncalled for and it goes to an extreme level of incivility. 

That said, we have free speech in our nation, and it is our constitutional right; every time we see statements like “we have free speech but,” then it is not free speech. As we near the election it will get downright discourteous and rude. Both sides of the national argument have gone over the top in incivility, but they have that right under our Constitution.

I do not care for a commentator calling me a Nazi and lecturing me on our nation fighting Nazis in WWII; my mother, father, mother-in-law and father-in-law fought in WWII. As a child I lived in post-war Germany for three years and witnessed first hand the damages that were done by the Nazis. I visited the massive military cemeteries in Europe; they made an impression on a young child who went on to serve in the Army for twenty-plus years. And a politically correct person calls me a Nazi. Again, he has that right under our Constitution, rude, crude and uncalled for, but it is his right.

The first election of President Trump gave the progressives an open door to limit our free speech; the mantra was that we have free speech, BUT you cannot use hate or incorrect speech. The progressives called any questioning of Covid policy hate/incorrect speech, and any disagreement with social engineering as hate/ incorrect speech that needed to be canceled.

The social media outlets, in response to pressure from the politically correct progressives in and out of our government, cancelled/censored/limited free speech. Folks who said the Covid vaccine did not stop the spread of the virus were called anti-vaxxers and science deniers and told their words were incorrect, so they had no right to say them (history proved them correct). Well, in our nation under our Constitution they do have the right.

The race to socialism in our nation needs to attack dissenting views and those who state them. Socialism has always been the most brutal form of government in history, a government cannot allow dissent and be all-powerful. A government cannot control our lives from before the cradle to after our deaths (death taxes) unless citizens are not allowed to dissent.

The anger we see nationally and even in this esteemed publication goes to the desire on the part of the progressive movement to disregard the Constitution. The Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, Venezuela, and Cuba all have a constitution-type document with the right to free speech. They simply ignore it, in the same manner our current leadership does and as progressives advocate. 

The abortion issue is a clear example of the progressives’ attitude towards our Constitution. 71% of Americans support some form of legal abortion, a Constitutional amendment would be a fait accompli and end the argument. The progressive mantra is, why do we need to do that? Well, because it is in the Constitution; that is how our nation works. But if you believe the Constitution is a ceremonial document, not a legal one, then why should you amend it? 

The pro-Hamas/progressive protesters in our nation have the right of freedom of speech and assembly. It is wrong for conservatives to limit their hateful speech. The “From the river to the sea” chant calls for the end of Israel and by extension the death of millions of Jews; a hateful thing to say, but they have the right to say it. Ironically, many of the protesters have signs with support for Hamas and gay rights on the same sign. Hamas and other radical Islamic groups have murdered gay folks just for being gay. Protesters also have the constitutional right to be stupid.

Let’s try to keep it civil. We cannot control to any extent what happens on a national level. However, what we call each other in this esteemed publication we can control by being civil.  My opinion.