The Indispensable Right Free Speech in an Age of Rage

The framers defined free speech as a natural right, a right that belongs to us as human beings, not bestowed upon us by the government.

Joe Biden is the most anti-free speech president since John Adams.

We've raised a generation of speech phobics who believe that you shouldn't have to hear opposing views.

The conversion of college campuses from bastions of free speech to the current ideological echo chambers is arguably the greatest threat facing free speech.

My biggest concern is that your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the government in significant ways.

He's a George Washington law professor and the bestselling author of The Indispensable Right.

I think this is the most dangerous anti-free speech period in our history. We've never seen an alliance like this of the government, corporations, media, and academia all allied against free speech.

The book actually talks about the characters and the cases that helped shape free speech in the United States.

One of the things that I discuss in The Indispensable Right is that we've gone through anti-free speech periods in this country.

We're at another election crossroad. And I think that the book has within it a well-based sense of optimism. The public remains opposed to censorship.

I think that puts it well. The interesting thing about the book is this book was 30 years in the making, and I didn't want to finish the book until I had a complete and comprehensive view of free speech, not just how we got to where we are and what we can do about it, but also why it is we're still struggling with free speech.

The book does actually deal with some of the attacks on the Supreme Court. And the reason the subtitle is Free Speech in an Age of Rage is this isn't our first age of rage. We've gone through various periods where our anger and our fears have led us to attack each other and often attack free speech.

And the problem has often been what I call rage rhetoric in the book, that this country was born in rage. That's what the Boston Tea Party was.

But the problem is we've always struggled with how to deal with rage rhetoric, particularly when it becomes state rage, when the government responds by cracking down on free speech. So the book looks at the personalities and the periods that shaped our views of free speech and tries to answer why we're still grappling with free speech, why we have still this difficult time in dealing with things like rage rhetoric.

And the reason it took so long is I didn't want to finish the book until I could answer that question. And ultimately, I did. One of the conclusions I made is that at the beginning of our republic, we had a short period of clarity as to what free speech really means.

And that was embodied in the First Amendment, that many of the framers believe that free speech was a natural right. It did not come from the government. It came from God. It came from being human, that you need free speech to be fully human.

I've been reading this book for the past 48 hours, The Indispensable Right, Free Speech in an Age of Rage. That rhymes, age of rage. I could have written that subtitle. It's by Jonathan Turley.

And you have also always been a great advocate for free speech. And that's what the book is about.

I'm giving your book the highest recommendation from BillOReilly.com, the indispensable right, free speech in an age of rage, Jonathan Turley. So we hope all our listeners and viewers worldwide will consider the book.

But in the real world, Professor, the world I live in--and I don't know whether you live in it or not, but most law professors don't. They're pinheads and they live in a bubble. If you speak your mind in this country, you are putting yourself at risk. People will try to hurt you. Number one. Now, on page, on chapter 27, you go all through this. But I'm wondering how much of a factor the fear of reprisal has become in America on the subject of freedom of speech.

Well, it is an enormous factor. And we saw this building, at least I saw a building, decades ago. This came from higher education. We started to see this intolerance, this orthodoxy. Conservative Republican faculty have been purged from many schools. And surveys done, and there's multiple surveys. These are self-identifying surveys where professors are describing themselves. And in about 40 percent of some of those surveys, there was not a single Republican left on certain faculties. And they have largely replicated themselves. And so the academy now runs from left to far left. And the level of intolerance is something that I never imagined would take hold of higher education. And that is now metastasized into the media, into the corporate world, into government.

And one of the things that this book talks about is that this isn't our first age of rage, but it's the most dangerous one for free speech.

Well, it's far less prominent and it's very hard to find. One of the reasons is that conservatives don't really control many media outlets, for one thing, even if they were going to do that. There are some legislatures that have passed efforts to try to prevent certain theories from being taught. Those have not been successful. Some of them have been struck down. But the means to conduct this anti-free speech movement is just far, far greater.

And by the way, when you talk about destroying people, in the chapter dealing with higher education, I try to go through to explain how bad this has become. I talk about professors that have committed suicide because what they do is they take away everything you value as an intellectual, your ability to publish, your ability to go to conferences. There was one guy in North Carolina that they hounded for years. And they did it again when they found out he gave a joke at a private dinner to like four people. And they hounded him again, put him under investigation, and got him to agree to resign. And on the last day, his last day as a professor, he went home and blew his brains out. And the reason is I think he thought, this is my last day. This is the only thing I ever wanted to do. I can understand him now. They took his life away from him.

So we hope all our listeners and viewers worldwide will consider the book. And we really appreciate your time. You're on TV every hour on the hour now. But it's good. You and Victor Davis Hanson, I got to say this personally, I read everything you guys put out. You know me, I'm pretty cantankerous. So I'm fine in little things where, you know, but that is my highest compliment because I'm so busy. I can't see straight. But when I see Hanson or you writing on the Hill or a column, even if it's something I'm not particularly interested, I read it. So keep doing what you're doing professor, really appreciate it.

It's by Jonathan Turley.

I've been reading this book for the past 48 hours. The indispensable right free speech in an age of rage that rhymes age of rage.

And that's what the book is about.

And one of the things that this book talks about is that this isn't our first age of rage, but it's the most dangerous one for free speech.

I'm giving your book the highest recommendation from BillOReilly.com, the indispensable right, free speech in an age of rage, Jonathan Turley.