By James F. Tracy
Massachusetts Representative Edward Markey’s “Hate Crimes Reporting Act of 2014” proposes to exert Congressional authority over mass media employing speech that may “encourage … hate crimes based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.” In contrast to establishment liberal Cass Sunstein’s proposed “cognitive infiltration” of unorthodox research communities questioning official narratives, Markey’s recommendation straightforwardly lays the groundwork for the criminalization of free speech—and prospectively any other intellectual or journalistic endeavor the state deems undesirable. Indeed, Markey’s power play is an especially compelling—though increasingly commonplace—example of despotism masquerading as liberalism, one that no honestly free society would seriously consider.
