Former Obama administration Secretary of State and Biden administration “climate envoy” John Kerry’s recent anti-First Amendment rant during a World Economic Forum panel on “Green Energy” wasn’t directed at gun owners and gun-rights groups, but it could have been.
According to a Fox News report, during the panel discussion Kerry lamented the fact that the government can’t stifle speech that doesn’t agree with those in charge. In doing so, he called the First Amendment—which was written partially to protect freedom of speech—a “major block” to hammering out what he considers to be “disinformation.”
“You know there’s a lot of discussion now about how you curb those entities in order to guarantee that you’re going to have some accountability on facts, etc.,” Kerry told the audience. “But look, if people go to only one source, and the source they go to is sick, and, you know, has an agenda, and they’re putting out disinformation, our First Amendment stands as a major block to the ability to be able to just, you know, hammer it out of existence.”
In this case, Kerry was talking about those who don’t espouse his theory on climate change and don’t embrace the radical policies he and others in the Democrat party claim are necessary to combat climate change. He wishes the First Amendment wasn’t there to hinder his ability to shut those up who disagree with his point of view on the matter.
Interestingly, Kerry quickly turned the conversation into an endorsement for the Harris-Walz campaign, which he apparently believes might have the ability to “govern” such free speech.
“I think democracies are very challenged right now and have not proven they can move fast enough or big enough to deal with the challenges they are facing, and to me, that is part of what this election is all about,” he said. “Will we break the fever in the United States? What we need is to win the ground, win the right to govern by hopefully winning enough votes that you’re free to be able to implement change.”
While that’s nonsense enough, you might be asking what that has to do with the Second Amendment. And the answer is, everything.
Stifling speech that doesn’t agree with the administration currently in charge isn’t limited to climate politics. There’s little doubt that Kerry and his ilk would also like to silence gun-rights groups that disagree with the government’s assertions that violent crime is a “public health crisis,” AR-style rifles are “assault weapons,” and the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act gives gun makers “blanket immunity.”
The Biden-Harris administration holds those three “facts” as among their utmost certainties as far as gun policy is concerned. Who believes they wouldn’t like to cut back on any dissent about those ideas if they were given the opportunity?
In the end, any time you hear any politician—from either party—call the First Amendment a roadblock to anything except tyranny, you should sit up and take notice. Those who want to curtail First Amendment rights would also be stifling the ability for Second Amendment supporters to voice our opinion on the issue.
