This is an increasingly common idea, and is not just restricted to failed presidential candidates. It is also an extremely insidious idea, for “hate speech,” contrary to popular belief, is not an objectively quantifiable entity. One’s person’s “hate speech” is another’s outspoken defense of liberty and justice. And there is no basis in the Constitution, or in the numerous Supreme Court decisions interpreting it up to now, for the claim that there is any exclusion of “hate speech” from First Amendment protection. The label of “hate speech” is a tool in the hands of the powerful that they use to stigmatize and silence the powerless.
That’s why Dean’s statement is so dangerous: it heralds the end of all First Amendment protection, and the criminalization of dissent. And since Leftists and Islamic supremacists constantly claim that to speak honestly about the motivating ideology of jihad terrorists constitutes “hate speech,” they mean to shut down all opposition to the advancing jihad. With Facebook and Twitter already choking off access to those who speak honestly about these issues, unless this current is halted and successfully resisted soon, the imposition of this tyranny is only a matter of time.