Attacks on the American first amendment by the thugs of a foreign power.
The first amendment has been taking a lot of flak recently with several protests on both the right and the left determined to silence the opposition. The battlefield recently has been college campuses across America but the fact is that the first amendment is a right that needs to be defended no matter who is speaking as Voltaire stated "I disapprove of what you say, But I will defend to the death your right to say it." the first amendment is the keystone of American democracy and its collapse will see the collapse of American democracy as we know it and I believe that the majority of the American people disapprove of the silencing of opposition parties but the attack on our rights by a foreign power is most disturbing. The foreign power that silences the voices of the American people is the Turkish president. His bodyguards attacked peaceful protestors without provocation the Washington D.C police department denounced the actions of the Turkish detail as a violation of American rights. The state department gave a stern reprimanding to the Turkish government while senator John Mckain remarked: "we should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States." this view was shared by our own senator Dianne Feinstein. The negative view of the Turkish government primarily stems from the oppressing of the freedom of speech first internally and now externally. The attack on our rights by an authoritarian state should not be tolerated yet those who have assaulted Americans will leave unpunished but the damage to our rights has been done and we must protect our rights from the aggressions of the thugs of an autocratic state, lest we become ones ourselves.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/18/erdogan-bodyguards-clash-protesters-dc-lawmakers-respond
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/18/us/politics/in-new-video-turkish-president-sits-through-violent-protest.html
I like how you focused on the relationships between foreigners and people at home. Do you think that the government is going to eventually step in and solve this issue, since it is a very important for protecting the 1st amendment?
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