Criticism is not censorship.
Though that seems obvious, it sadly needs to be reiterated in the face of whining by many on the right that their, or some fellow traveler's, free speech rights have been violated when in fact they were merely the subject of criticism. They take full advantage of their own rights to free speech, which are never in danger, but, when others exercise their own rights to free speech, many right wingers decry the free speech they disagree with and, bizarrely, call it a violation of the free speech rights of the original commenter.
Most recently, this happened when the Duck Dynasty patriot made racist and homophobic remarks, with Cliven Bundy's ruminations on "the Negro," with Donald Sterling's racist rants, and with condemnations of Micheal Sam kissing his boyfriend on televised NFL draft coverage.
Has their insistence on living in their echo chamber made them so delicate that they cannot stand to even hear their views criticized?
If not, then why is it so hard for so many on the right to grasp the elementary fact that, just as they have the right to say what they want, others have just as much right to respond to that speech, regardless of whether their response takes the form of agreement or disagreement, praise or criticism?
Ensconced in their tightly controlled echo chamber of Fox News, talk radio, and right wing blogs and sites, they rarely have to hear authentic opposing views, let alone maturely and productively interact for any appreciable length of time with anyone they disagree with. Extreme right wing views are never challenged and, for the echo chamber dwellers, they become normalized. This extends to various kinds of bigotry as well, especially racism, misogyny, and homophobia.
Speakers make all kinds of bigoted statements but are rarely, if ever, called out for doing so. Then, when they leave the echo chamber, they are shocked to learn how out of the mainstream their views are. They are not equipped to deal with all the criticism their bigotry engenders and they attempt to shut it all down with the absurd claim that the criticism is a violation of their rights.
Bigotry has become increasingly unacceptable in our society, so much so that even bigots generally want to avoid the opprobrium that their bigotry brings them. But many right wing bigots feel entitled to continue to be bigots yet avoid criticism for their bigotry.
They insist on their own free speech rights but demand no one else voices any disagreement with them. Is that a demand the rest of us will agree to?
Cross posted at 5 Seconds to Midnight.