© 2016 Jim Spence - Freedom of speech is a wonderful concept. The reason you know freedom of speech is great, is because the countries you don’t want to visit let alone live
in, tend to ban freedom of speech. Not surprisingly, the worst nations on earth
employ the harshest punishments whenever someone says something the dictators don’t
like.
The 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is pretty
simple. It protects American citizens from our government. It reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.”
How far does the
guarantee of freedom of speech go? It is an interesting question to ask. Courts have established the idea that
yelling “fire” in a crowded theater and causing a stampede, is not protected
speech. However, organizing a political rally and chanting, “Down with this, or down with
that,” is protected. The dividing line seems to be when people begin to infringe
on the property rights and/or personal safety of others.
Again, because freedom of expression is a delicate matter, the courts almost always side with
the citizens instead of the government, unless free speech endangers the safety
of others. Of course, rioting protesters who destroy the property of others,
are not exercising free speech, they are committing crimes.
This brings us back to the increasing presence of the
culture war in America. Half the players on Baltimore and Jacksonville took a knee this morning before the game in London. It seems that the NBA and NFL think it is OK for players to
exercise freedom of expression……sometimes. Taking a knee during the national
anthem is OK, but certain forms of celebration, say after scoring a touchdown etc.
is deemed illegal.
It is important to remember that sporting events are not peaceable assemblies, they are entertainment events with customers paying to be there. Interestingly, the NFL players union has decided that players decisions to engage in political protest during the national anthem should be protected.
Let’s be clear about the customers here.
Tens of millions of people find the taking of a knee during the national anthem to be
offensive, just as tens of millions of people find both racist rhetoric and
race baiting rhetoric offensive.
Do players have the right to offend during the course of business with customers? Do
private businesses have the right to fire people for exercising freedom of
speech, if the exercise itself financially damages their business? We are not talking
about a government attempting to ban free speech……we are talking about private
sector interests being allowed to protect their interests by keeping their
customers happy with the overall business transaction/entertainment experience. These are interesting questions.
The courts have held that businesses have the right to fire
people for offending their customers. ESPN fired Curt Schilling because he
tweeted, not during a broadcast, but on his own time, the idea that he thinks men should pee and poop in the men’s room.
The point here
is actually pretty simple. Americans all have a right to offend our elected
officials, but Americans also have the right to protect their businesses from
moron employees who insist on offending the customers. This explains why Colin
Kaepernick does not have a job. He runs off customers in droves. If I have an
employee who runs off my customers, I am going to fire that person.
It is going to be fun to watch all of this play out. NFL and
NBA owners have shown themselves to be quite tolerant of political speech being inserted into their business relationships with customers. We will see how far
this goes now that it looks like the NFL is finally starting to pay a price for
allowing millionaire employees to question the fundamental fairness of American
citizens who are sitting in the stands with expensive ticket stubs in their pockets.
Never one to keep his mouth shut, Donald Trump has weighed in. He suggested
that employees who offend customers should be fired for doing so. Sounds like Trump is siding with the customers. And the response
from both the NBA and the NFL was swift. It seems that when it comes to answering the question of whether
or not America is basically fair, the debate is on and the NFL thinks the national anthem is a suitable forum. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who
makes about $15,000 per concussion each season, suggests that it is Trump who
is divisive. This seems strange. Trump is simply suggesting that the
players who insist that America is unfair actually created the "divide." Trump has sided with the tens of millions of fans who are offended because they think all in all, America is pretty darned fair.
How did we get here? Essentially, these cultural wounds were healing nicely until
Mr. Obama came along. Obama’s primary emphasis in governing was to encourage socialists to
use phony racism accusations as battering rams against anyone resisting the
failed policies of socialism. It looks like the cancer of the Obama era is in stage four in
America. It is my prediction that professional sports businesses that allow millionaire employees to offend their patrons, will find that their businesses deteriorate. It is already happening. A
steady decline from here seems imminent because no business can allow its employees to routinely
insult the intelligence of its customers without paying a steep price.
What should we do? Let's sit back and watch. Let the whining millionaires galvanize around freedom of
expression during the course of business, and let the customers who disagree, weigh alternative entertainment options. The
free market for expensive tickets and commercial laden television broadcasts
will sort this out, just like the market sorted out the competing views in the 2016 election. It is now the NFL and NBA that want to sew politics into the fabric of their businesses. We shall see how that works out for them.
The market will sort this out
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