“Corporation: a miniature totalitarian state governed by a hierarchy of unelected officials who take a dim view of individualism, free speech, equality and eggheads. The backbone of all Western democracies.” StatesViewsDemocracySpeechWesternCorporationsOfficialsIndividualismFree SpeechHierarchyBackboneMiniaturesTotalitarian StateEggheads Author:Rick Bayan
“Meiklejohn's position is that free speech in a democracy is not an absolute flowing from the boundless source of some presumed 'natural right.' It is a practical necessity of 'self-government by universal suffrage,' for if the citizens are not permitted to argue out the issues of government, how can they be what they must be in a democracy - the rulers as well as the ruled?” IfsWellsSelfGovernmentNaturalDemocracyIssuesAtheismPositionSourceCitizensSpeechUniversalAbsolutesArguingPracticalsRulersFree SpeechBoundlessSuffrageSelf-governmentUniversal Suffrage Author:Max Lerner
“Democratization is not democracy; it is a slogan for the temporary liberalization handed down from an autocrat. Glasnost is not free speech; only free speech, constitutionally guaranteed, is free speech.” DemocracySpeechTemporaryFree SpeechSlogansDemocratizationGlasnost Author:Gail Sheehy
“Constant conflict is actually often good politics. Because the more you can inflame your supporters the more likely they are to show up at election day. And if they're more inflamed than the other side, even if the other side has more people agreeing with it, you'll win, because your crowd will show up.” PeopleIfsShowsRealityPoliticalPoliticsWinningSidesPartyDemocracyConflictElectionStrategyConstantCrowdsIdeologyVotingFree SpeechSupporterPolitical PartiesCivilityElection Day Author:William J. Clinton
“There clearly are cases where evil people exist, but you don't have to violate the privacy of every single citizen of America to find them.” PeopleAmericaEvilPoliticsLeadershipCasesDemocracyPolicyCitizensEthicsSocial MediaTerrorismIdeologyPrivacyFree SpeechEvil People Author:Eric Schmidt
“People call me a socialist sometimes. But, no, you gotta meet real socialists. You'll have a sense of what a socialist is.” PeopleRealSometimesRealityPoliticalPoliticsMoneyPartyDemocracyComedyWallTaxesSocialismIdeologyCall MeFree SpeechSocialistPolitical PartiesFree Market Author:Barack Obama
“One faction of one party, in one house of Congress, in one branch of government, doesn't get to shut down the entire government just to refight the results of an election.” GovernmentPoliticalHousePoliticsLeadershipResultsMoneyPartyDemocracyPolicyTaxesConstitutionElectionCongressIdeologyBranchesFree SpeechPolitical PartiesFactionsPartisanshipBranches Of Government Author:Barack Obama
“Our country was born out of a desire to be free. And every day since, it's been protected by our men and women in uniform - people who believed so deeply in America, they were willing to give their lives for it.” PeopleMenGivingCountryAmericaDesireFatherBornCommunityLeadershipHistoryDemocracyGenerationsWillingMen And WomenConstitutionHuman RightsOur CountryIdeologyProtectedFree SpeechUniforms Author:Barack Obama
“Today, unfortunately, the right to vote seems to have become a partisan issue. Democrats seek to guarantee and expand voting rights. Republicans try to undermine and suppress voting rights.” TryingSeemsTodayPoliticalPoliticsJusticePartyDemocracyIssuesRightsPolicyRepublicanEqualEthicsVoteStrategyDemocratIdeologyGuaranteesVotingFree SpeechPolitical PartiesEqual RightsPartisansRight To VotePartisanship Author:Donna Brazile
“The Senate used to be a place of great debate and accomplishment. Now it is run like a dictatorship shutting out the voices of millions of Americans.” RunningPoliticalUsedPoliticsVoiceLeadershipPartyHistoryMillionsDemocracyGenerationsPolicyDebateUsed To BeIdeologyAccomplishmentSenateFree SpeechDictatorshipPolitical PartiesCivilityPartisanship Author:John Cornyn
“America is just so weird in what they think is right and wrong. Like, I was watching 'Breaking Bad' the other day, and they were cooking meth. I could literally cook meth because of that show. It's a how-to. And then they bleeped out the word 'f__k'. And I'm like, really? They killed a guy, and disintegrated his body in acid, but you're not allowed to say 'f__k'? It's like when they bleeped 'molly' at the VMAs. Look what I'm doing up here right now, and you're going to bleep out 'molly'?” ThinkingLooksShowsWisdomBodyRealityAmericaGuyPoliticsCommunityLeadershipJusticeDemocracyComedyGenerationsHuman NaturePolicyRight NowEthicsCookingStrategyHuman RightsIndividualitySocial MediaIdeologyCooksFree SpeechCivilityAcidPartisanship Author:Miley Cyrus
“I don't think Edward Snowden deserves a death penalty or life in prison. I think that's inappropriate. I think that's why he fled, [because] that is what he faced.” ThinkingRealityPoliticsLeadershipJusticePartyTechnologyDemocracyHuman NaturePolicyEthicsDeserveStrategyPrisonHuman RightsIndividualitySocial MediaIdeologyTeaFree SpeechPenaltiesDeath PenaltyDisobedienceTea PartyInappropriateCivil DisobedienceThird PartiesSnowden Author:Rand Paul
“In battle, combatants engaged in war against America get no due process and may lawfully be killed. But citizens not in a battlefield - however despicable - are guaranteed a trial by our Constitution. No one argues that Americans who commit treason shouldn't be punished. The maximum penalty for treason is death. But the Constitution specifies the process necessary to convict.” MayWarRealityAmericaFatherPoliticsProcessCommunityJusticeHistoryTechnologyDemocracyViolenceGenerationsPolicyCitizensBattleEqualEthicsConstitutionHuman RightsTerrorismDuesArguingTrialsCommitIdeologyEngagedFree SpeechPenaltiesMaximumEqual RightsDeath PenaltyBattlefieldsTreasonDespicableConvictsDue Process Author:Rand Paul
“Enough of this foreign fiasco distraction. Get back to work. It is time to bomb Obamacare.” EnoughPoliticsDemocracyPolicyHealthEthicsStrategySocial MediaIdeologyBombsWorking ItGet BackDistractionForeign PolicyFree SpeechObamacareBack To WorkFiasco Author:Sarah Palin
“I view the United States, today, much like East Berlin. And I'm off the grid. I've tried for 20 years to warn the country about the Democrats and Republicans, and nobody's listening.” YearsCountryStatesTodayPoliticalPoliticsCommunityUnitedViewsPartyTechnologyUnited StatesDemocracyGenerationsPolicyListeningRepublicanEthicsDemocratHuman RightsIndividualityTerrorismEastIdeologyFree SpeechPolitical PartiesDisobedienceBerlinCivil DisobedienceGridsEast Berlin Author:Jesse Ventura
“We want [government] down to the size to where it would fit in a bathtub, and then it could worry about what we were up to.” WantGovernmentFatherPoliticsMoneyWorryDemocracyPolicyFitTaxesConstitutionSizeIdeologyFree SpeechBathtubs Author:Grover Norquist
“Jail is just another micro-society. It just happens that here, the problems are far more out in the open, we don't live with the facades of lies that democracy or capitalism creates for us.” ProblemRealityHappensLyingPoliticsCommunityMoneyClassDemocracyPolicyWallTaxesCapitalismTradePropertyHuman RightsIdeologyJailFree SpeechConsumerismFacadePartisanship Author:Cecily McMillan
“We are not seeking revolution. We just want democracy.” WantPoliticsCommunityLeadershipJusticeDemocracyViolenceGenerationsPolicyRevolutionEqualStrategyUnityHuman RightsIndividualitySeekingIdeologyForeign PolicyFree SpeechEqual RightsDisobedienceCivil Disobedience Author:Joshua Wong
“Our culture is at a critical cusp - a time that requires that we define what it means to be a citizen in a democracy. Within our nation we need to foster a greater sense of collective responsibility.” NeedsMeanCultureNationsResponsibilityDemocracyGreaterInternetCitizensCriticalCollectivesFree SpeechCuspCollective Responsibility Author:Robert Neelly Bellah
“We live in a country that talks about being the home of the brave and the land of the free, and we have the highest incarceration rate in the world.” WorldCountryHomeRealityFatherPoliticsJusticeDemocracyLandPolicyHighestEthicsConstitutionBraveRateFree SpeechIncarcerationLand Of The Free Author:Bryan Stevenson
“It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.” FreedomDemocracySpeechParadoxFree SpeechDictatorshipDictatorLadders Author:Herbert Hoover
“A well-functioning democracy has a culture of free speech, not simply legal protection of free speech. It encourages independence of mind. It imparts a willingness to challenge prevailing opinion through both words and deeds. Equally important, it encourages a certain set of attitudes in listeners, one that gives a respectful hearing to those who do not embrace the conventional wisdom. In a culture of free speech, the attitude of listeners is no less important than that of speakers.” GivingMindWellsImportantCertainCultureChallengesAttitudeOpinionDemocracySpeechIndependenceEmbraceDeedsHearingProtectionWillingnessSpeakersFree SpeechConventionalListenersRespectfulImpartPrevailingDemocracies HaveConventional Wisdom Author:Cass Sunstein
“We say that if America has entered the war to make the world safe for democracy, she must first make democracy safe in America. How else is the world to take America seriously, when democracy at home is daily being outraged, free speech suppressed, peaceable assemblies broken up by overbearing and brutal gangsters in uniform; when free press is curtailed and every independent opinion gagged? Verily, poor as we are in democracy, how can we give of it to the world?” IfsWorldGivingFirstsWarHomeAmericaPoorOpinionDemocracyBrokenSafeSpeechIndependentPressesFree SpeechBrutalUniformsAssemblyGangstersOutragedBroken UpFree PressOverbearing Author:Emma Goldman
“The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.” DoeMotivationalPoliticalLanguageFreedomDemocracyTakenHeardCommunicationListeningFree SpeechLife And Love Author:Hubert H. Humphrey
“The values that we talked about, the values democracy and free speech and international norms and rule of law, respecting the ability of other countries to determine their own destiny and preserve their sovereignty and territorial integrity. Things are not something that we can set aside.” CountryLawValuesAbilityDestinyDemocracyIntegritySpeechInternationalDeterminePreservesFree SpeechOther CountriesSovereigntyNormRule Of LawTerritorial Author:Barack Obama