The Shaker Dispatch — Conservative Commentary
Subject: First Amendment to the United States Constitution
January 21, 2024
By: Brad Shaker
Amendment One:
‘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.’
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by congress on September 25, 1789 and ratified on December 15, 1791. That was a long time ago, but Amendment One has come under attack in recent years––especially since the installation of Joe Biden’s administration.
The current administration seems bent on dictating our lives by continuously chipping away at our Freedoms––Freedoms we take for granted and need to be reminded of from time to time.
Freedom of Religion: Freedom of Religion is closely tied to the Freedoms of Speech and Assembly.
The 2021 Equality Act was nothing more than a bullet aimed directly at American’s Freedom of Religion. It’s the Federal Government telling Americans that your religion can not disagree with the LGBTQ+ community and their lifestyle and you had certainly better not speak (Freedom of Speech) out against it.
The Feds are letting Americans know the government can and will tell you what your Religion must do, can’t say, and must include.
Freedom of Speech: Joe Biden and the Democrat Party have and continue to dictate to Social Media platforms that they censor information the D-party doesn’t like. Their go-to phrase is: “To Stop Spreading Disinformation” which the Democrat voter is enthusiastically in favor of . . . for now. While these voters ardently approve of silencing Republican views, what they are not grasping is that once the Freedom of Speech is gone, it’s gone for them, too.
Freedom of the Press: Just what is the press? At the time the First Amendment was written this question would be a snap to answer, but today, with newspapers (rapidly vanishing), bulletins, magazines, TV, radio, and the various platforms available on the internet, it’s a bit more complicated.
These vehicles of information (and disinformation) and entertainment have always had segments devoted to news, declarations, expression, amusement, and opinion. Democrats now try to control what can be seen, heard, or read on these diverse avenues of the press––and the press, all too often and all too willingly, cooperate.
Freedom of Assembly: During the COVID chaos, one of the first of our constitutionally protected rights to be attacked by the government was the Freedom to Assemble. Why? Because there is power in Assembly; there are real solutions found in Assembly; there is knowledge shared in Assembly; there is camaraderie in Assembly, and when like-minded people gather and discuss problems or situations, there is a tendency to figure things out, and when large groups of people figure things out it often doesn’t follow the message being fed to them by their own government.
People, when placed in positions of authority, will lie to get what they want. It happens in the business world, and it is a constant in the political world. The same government that schemes with certain Social Media groups to remove content they declare “misinformation” will misinform Americans without blinking an eye.
Social Media platforms, such as Facebook are quick to declare a post they don’t like as: false, partly false, mostly false, or some other degree of false so they can hide or even remove it altogether. But do they have the right to censor such posts? Aren’t people who connect in groups on Social Media simply exercising their constitutional right to assemble? Yes, there are those who will intentionally try to mislead people and yes there will be some in the group that disagree with the majority of the group, but the same thing could happen if everyone got together in a high school gymnasium. In such instances, a person is free to leave or they can stay and try to persuade others to their viewpoint, and when enough people of similar thought get together, the truth usually comes to light.
Freedom to Petition Our Government: Freedom of Assembly can often lead to Freedom to Petition and if there is one thing our elected officials don’t want to deal with, it is the grievances of a group of people expecting them to do what they were elected to do. Freedom of Petition can make politicians mighty uncomfortable.
In 1836 a ‘Gag Rule’ was instituted by Congress to silence then Massachusetts representative John Quincy Adams on the issue of slavery, similar to what the courts Liberal judges are doing to President Donald Trump today. Adams fought back, claiming this violated his Freedom to Petition and his Freedom of Speech. In 1844 the House of Representatives voted to remove the gag rule, deeming it unconstitutional. SCOTUS should take note of this as they consider Trump.
These Freedoms: Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition are closely interlocked yet different enough to warrant their own acknowledgment. They should not be taken lightly by any American citizen.
The Constitution does not give us these rights; we were born with them. As the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence makes perfectly clear, all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights. It is the duty of the United States government to protect the rights of every American citizen––these Rights––these Freedoms, not to restrict or deny them, and it is the duty of every American Citizen to see that they do.
Brad Shaker is the founder of “The Shaker Dispatch”, a conservative blog that strives to be both entertaining and informative through the engaging use of fact, sarcasm, and satire.
The Shaker Dispatch — Conservative Commentary
I want you to think for yourself.
Brad Shaker 
