We have freedom of speech, so why am I so nervous

Politico reports Stefanik running for governor, selling her townhouse in D.C.

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The feeling has been persistent and unrelenting for some time, but I know a doctor cannot help me.

It's a nervousness, the kind of worry you have when your teenager is late returning the car on Friday night, an angst made worse each time I read a newspaper or hear a Supreme Court decision.

There is this hysterical fear I will be arrested or jailed or censored for simply expressing an opinion.

I suspect Jimmy Kimmel never thought he'd lose his dream job either, but here we are.

That can't happen to me, I argue to myself.

The First Amendment is on my side.

Freedom of speech is protected.

But it is happening here, and for those of us who spent a lifetime doing our best to report the news truthfully and accurately, we're a little worried.

There are days, weeks when things are bleak.

There was a time when journalists chose their words carefully to make sure they were free of bias, now they fear retribution from the powerful forces in power.

The government is going after the journalists by going after the people who employ the journalists.

ABC, or should I say Disney, did that this week.

CBS announced the end for Stephen Colbert and 60 Minutes is on notice it is being watched.

NBC is in the process of splitting off its MSNBC network so it can form its own identity, or perhaps NBC does not want to be sullied by its liberal reputation that so many abhor.

One Republican congressman from Louisiana promoted the idea of a Hollywood "blacklist."

Let me repeat: He promoted it, a blacklist like the McCarthy-era blacklist that insisted communists had infiltrated the State Department and Hollywood. He said it out loud for us all to hear.

The McCarthy-era lies ruined careers, reputations and lives.

Last week, the FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, threatened to take the licenses of broadcast companies.

The attorney general said she will prosecute "hate speech,” even though, legally, there is no such thing.

Our freedoms are under attack.

During those dark quiet times, I wonder what happens if some conservative billionaire buys the privately owned Substack and shuts down thousands of writers — like Will Doolittle and me — for not having the right point of view, or worse, for being guilty of "hate speech."

But of course I am being hysterical.

We are the land of the free.

There are checks and balances.

We can say whatever we want no matter how distasteful.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a 2017 opinion:

“Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express ‘the thought that we hate.’”

Samuel Alito is no friend of the liberal cause.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in another decision that the Constitution guarantees the right to engage in speech people don't approve of — "The First Amendment protects an individual's right to speak his mind, regardless of whether the government considers his speech sensible and well-intentioned, or deeply misguided and likely to cause anguish or incalculable grief."

People lost their jobs this week- — teachers, members of law enforcement, government employees, a late-night television host — for doing just that.

Twenty years ago, the Westboro Baptist Church gained national attention for protesting at the funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. It claimed the soldiers’ deaths were "divine punishment" for the country’s tolerance of homosexuality.

While protesting loudly at the funerals, they held up signs such as "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

It was despicable.

Finally, a father of a Marine killed in Iraq in 2006, sued the church for "intentional infliction of emotional distress."

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that even when you are being despicable, your speech is protected.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion: "Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and as it did here inflict great pain. We cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker.”

Oddly, Alito was the one justice to dissent.

But that was nearly 15 years ago.

Politics has changed for the worse, the court has changed for the worse.

What the late-night talk show host said was lightweight material compared to the Westboro Baptist Church. Yet television bosses and business interests lined up against the comedian.

Substack columnist Robert Hubbell suggested citizens boycott ABC owner Disney, that they cancel their Hulu account. Maybe we all should stop watching Monday Night Football.

Hubbell wrote that Disney might want to change its motto to: “The Happiest Place on Earth, Unless You Want to Say Something that Offends Trump, In Which Case You and Your Family Will Be Escorted Out of the Park!”

Heather Cox Richardson reported that Americans take the First Amendment seriously. A pew Research Center poll found that 92 percent of Americans thought it was important “that the media can report the news without state/government censorship.”

But that seems to be where we are going.

The future for our country continues to darken and that nervous anxiety I feel gets a little worse every day.

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Stefanik running

Politico reported this past week that New York State GOP chair Ed Cox said Rep. Elise Stefanik will launch her campaign for governor right after the November election.

“She got very good advice from former Gov. Pataki. It was, ‘Don’t cloud the local elections,’” Cox told Politico. “She just doesn’t want to get mixed up in the local elections, let those happen, let the candidates carry that, let them be highlighted, and then after that she will declare.”

Politico also reported that in a separate interview with Fox News Radio she said she was focused on local elections.

“This is a 62-county state. You have to make sure Republicans are continuing to do well,” she said on the radio. “And after this November, I’m looking forward to making my announcement.”

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Leaving DC?

The Wall Street Journal reported this weekend that Elise Stefanik has put her Washington, D.C. townhouse up for sale.

Stefanik's family bought the townhouse 15 years ago for just over $1 million. The 2,700-square-foot townhouse has been put on the market for $2.195 million.

The townhouse is located about a half-mile from the Capitol.

Stefanik also has a home in Schuylerville that she bought in 2018.

When she first ran for Congress 10 years ago, she said she lived in Willsboro, N.Y. where her parents owned a home on Lake Champlain.

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Another letter

A reader reached out this week that he sent a letter to legislators about his concern for what is happening in the United States.

He also copied all the local newspapers. He did not hear from the local legislators nor the newspapers about his letter and nothing was published.

I advised him that newspapers would not run a letter not addressed to them directly. It is important for every letter-writer to know that. Newspapers also expect the letter to be original.

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Hamburger helper

If you are of a certain age, you will remember the culinary delight "Hamburger Helper."

Our mothers — not usually our fathers in those days — would cook some ground beef in the frying pan, then add a concoction of spices and dried pasta.

I remember it being pretty good, although my mother was not known for her skills in the kitchen.

The New York Times reported this weekend that "Hamburger Helper" has seen a 14.5 percent spike in sales through August of this year.

The uptick is attributed to the continued high cost of food. The Times reported that shoppers looking to save money are also buying more cans of tuna, salmon and sardines, while sales of beans and boxes of macaroni and cheese are also strong.

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Some spending money

It was reported by multiple news outlets that border czar and North Country resident Tom Homan was recently drawn into an FBI investigation when he received $50,000 in cash from FBI agents posing as businessmen looking for government favors.

The FBI apparently dropped the investigation because it could not show that Homan had actually granted anyone favors.

My question is, what happened to the $50,000 in cash.

Was that taxpayer money used in the sting and did Homan get to keep it?

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Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.