The presidential election is clearly in full swing with a parade of conservative candidates running for the GOP nomination while the Democratic party is down to only two primary candidates. The dynamic on the GOP side is much different from what is being advanced on the “liberal” side, whatever a liberal may be. According to Dr. Ben Carson, as president he would have the power to ban extreme political speech, which he later reiterated to another news agency that he considered liberal speech to be extreme on all levels. Conservative speech, however, would not be monitored by his direction because it is not extreme for virtue of his official definition. It is true that the First Amendment begins with the statement that Congress shall make no law with respect to the abridgement of the right of free speech and the press, but Carson may think there is an executive authority loophole.
Carson stated the Blaze that he would withhold funding through the Department of Education by presidential order from schools that did not comply with the monitoring of political speech on their campuses. No mention was made of social media activity, and it was also not clear if that meant the targets for withheld funding could be schools that taught a perceived “liberal” agenda version of facts and information. It appears that he would be the sole judge of which national colleges would receive federal funding while claiming the authority to directly violate the very United States Constitution that he will be giving an oath to uphold if elected. However, the free speech rights of those espousing the conservative talking points would be maintained.
There is nothing new about “divide and conquer” mass population management tactics. The United States is surely divided right down the middle politically, even within the margin of error associated with presidential candidate preference polling. This situation can be evidenced by the polar opposite opinion of Democratic Party candidate Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) who says not only should all free speech rights be observed, but that young Americans should receive 16 years of public education instead of the 12-year program that is currently in place. And of course, the time of life when young adults are formulating their political opinions is during their educational process. Sanders says we should have a nation of highly qualified and educated workers, while Carson appears to think we need a national conservative groupthink where all students merely learn to think as told or punish the universities for non-compliance, and potentially the students themselves.
Dr. Carson has so far not been afraid to make controversial statements concerning his management style as president, and so has Donald Trump for that matter. The problem appears to be that pesky little U.S. Constitution, which also states that the Constitution is not just a guideline, but is the supreme law of the land. It is a document that specifically limits the power of the executive branch, and the president in particular. The purpose is to keep those who are in power from taking action that would give themselves more power. A proactive movement that would quell the free speech right of an entire side of the political paradigm could be defined as “extreme” within itself. And, it also indicates a disregard and disrespect for the U.S. Constitution that has been very effective in helping keep the United States in tact for over two hundred years.