When The Left Gets A Little Exercise Crushing License Plates & Dissent

28 Jan, 2004 by John Hawkins

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We often hear left-wingers moaning about the “crushing of dissent,” but in reality, many left-wingers see, quite comfortable with trying to silence people with whom they disagree.

The latest example of this is in Tennessee which, “has more than 100 specialty license plates, supporting everything from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to out-of-state colleges.” In the past, the…

Tennessee chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood have sued the state over the Choose Life plate, saying it restricts free speech.”

Of course, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood had a problem with the message of the plate, but because that alone wouldn’t fly in a court of law, they ironically claimed that they were supporting free speech by preventing people from putting “Choose Life” license plates on their car.

Fast forward to today and there is another specialty license plate controversy in Tennessee. This time a Sons of Confederate Veterans license plate is being opposed by the NAACP. I want you to just take a look at why Johnnie R. Turner, executive director of the Memphis branch of the NAACP says these plates shouldn’t be allowed…

“In this day and age when we’re trying to be inclusive, promoting diversity and when we’re developing an appreciation of the uniqueness that each group brings, it is appalling that any one group would have the legal authority to display any emblem or symbol that any segment of the population would find insensitive. To give legal sanction that is contrary to what the national agenda should be is unthinkable and inexcusable.”

I’m not sure if that quote reminds me more of “1984” or the type of conversations they must have had in the Soviet Union before Stalin’s purges, but in any case, it’s a deplorable sentiment. No one who has even the tiniest shred of respect for the First Amendment could actually believe that it should be illegal to “display any emblem or symbol that any segment of the population would find insensitive.” Furthermore, this line, “To give legal sanction that is contrary to what the national agenda should be is unthinkable and inexcusable” sounds like something that was lifted out of a Fidel Castro speech.

These left-wingers in Tennessee need to spend a little less time filing lawsuits and grandstanding and a little more time contemplating that great quote often misattributed to Voltaire,

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”

Hat tip to Tongue Tied for finding this story.