In a great victory for the First Amendment, the 9th District Court of Appeals has ruled that a former middle school science teacher in Evergreen, Washington, can sue the principal for harassing him for bringing a “Make America Great Again” cap to a couple of school training events. 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/washington-teacher-brought-maga-hat-school-trainings-protected-under-first-amendment-court-rules

Teacher Eric Dodge didn’t wear the cap in front of students, or even during the training event. It was just with his belongings where other teachers could see it, which caused some of them to complain about feeling “threatened” and “intimidated,” which I would suggest is an issue for them to take up with their psychotherapists. Instead, the principal allegedly told Dodge to “use better judgement” and verbally attacked him.

Dodge’s attorneys pointed out that there was no blanket ban on political speech at the school, and the principal had a Bernie Sanders sticker on her car and allowed a Black Lives Matter poster to hang in the school library. So apparently, it was only speech that this petty bureaucrat disagreed with that was banned, which is precisely the reason why we have a First Amendment.

In ruling in Dodge’s favor, the court wrote that "concern over the reaction to controversial or disfavored speech itself does not justify restricting such speech." That’s great as far it goes, but I would like to ask a question: who decided for us all that the idea of wanting to make America great again is “controversial” or “disfavored” speech?

To whom is it controversial or disfavored? People who want to destroy America? I have to assume that’s their goal, since they’re actively working on it now. And why do leftists in politics or media always get to determine that speech they disagree with is “disfavored?” Did I miss the news story reporting that someone died and made them God?

Even after years of censorship of pro-Trump voices and one-sided media vilification, I can point to polls showing that Trump is still more popular than Biden. The type of intolerant, woke leftist authoritarianism exhibited by this teacher is so unpopular that it’s getting school boards voted out all over America, even in ultra-liberal San Francisco, and it’s brought Hollywood to its knees financially. And surveys show that a majority of Americans disapprove of Biden’s attempt to smear “MAGA Republicans” as “semi-fascists” and “enemies of democracy.”

So why do a tiny minority who hold radical left viewpoints get to decide that views held by the majority of Americans are “controversial” or “disfavored” and must be censored, while their own unpopular fringe views are somehow declared to be “mainstream”?  

I’d really like to know how that insanity became accepted wisdom so it can be set right again. But don’t worry, I would never censor their views the way they try to censor ours. That’s because I believe that the First Amendment protects your right to say whatever you believe, no matter how idiotic it might be.