Injuns and Emails

By Gregory J. Wellborn

I want to weave together two events of the past week into a coherent theme.  While they may seem a bit unrelated, and perhaps even a bit insignificant or “dated”,

the theme connecting them is among the most important we can address.  What rights do we truly possess if the government is allowed to run roughshod over them without consequences?  Put differently, if the Washington Redskins team can be stripped of their property rights and True The Vote can be denied their free speech, what rights do the rest of us really possess?

First, the facts behind each event.  The Washington Redskins were informed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that they have been stripped of their rights

Washington Redskins’ Logo

to the “Redskins” trademark and copyright.  The brand which is the Washington Redskins no longer belongs to the owner of the team.  The reason they lost the rights is because a small group of Native Americans claimed that use of the term offended them. 

True The Vote faces a different, but nonetheless related, breach of their rights.  They are one of the conservative organizations that was harassed by the IRS.  They sued the IRS and, in pursuing evidence to prove their case, requested copies of ALL emails from or to the IRS concerning the handling of their request for tax-exempt status.  We need to understand that attainment of tax-exempt status, and thus the ability to solicit donations which would fund political advertisements and programs, is a straight forward first amendment issue.  If the government can deny me the ability to place political advertisements, they have in fact denied me my right to free speech.  The IRS responded by informing True The Vote’s attorney that six separate individual computers, which collectively contained all the requested emails, have suffered hard drive crashes simultaneously with no backups available.  Thus, no evidence relating to the IRS’ handling of True The Vote’s request can be made available, and correspondingly the government will have stifled free speech without suffering any consequences.  Do I really need to add that nobody in their right mind believes six separate computers crashed or that no backups exist?  Perhaps I do, but if so, it would itself be a significant violation of law.

How are these two seemingly different events related?  The answer is that without property rights, freedom of speech and a set of objective laws equally enforced, there can be no real freedom for anyone.  If the government can take away my property, they have the ability to punish me for speaking out against them.  If the government can significantly impede my expression of opinion in the public square, they have the ability to punish me for speaking out against them.  If the government can arbitrarily decide whether laws apply to me vs. to someone else, they can, through selective enforcement, punish me for speaking out against them.  In other words, our whole system of governance and rights would disintegrate overnight.

Consider the logical consequences of the government trademark office decision.  The trademark is a property right – every bit as important and valuable as the homes or the businesses we own.  The pretext for taking away this valuable property was that a small number of people were offended.  Lest you think this is an extreme example, I’d point you to the University of California’s Irvine Campus.  The Phi Gamma Delta fraternity (nicknamed the “fijis’) has held an annual Luau, and many participants have come dressed in grass skirts.  Someone of Polynesian heritage complained that he was “offended”, and the university cancelled the Luau and punished the fraternity. Similarly, in a California public school, a white student was prohibited from wearing a sombrero because a Hispanic kid complained that white kids wearing Hispanic costumes was insulting.

You see where this is going?  Forget whether or not someone was offended.  I’m willing to stipulate that people have been offended.  But freedom of speech means nothing if we’re willing to restrict it because someone is offended.  If that becomes the threshold for restricting speech, then I’d like to register my sense of offense over a host of things – What if I feel offended at the concept of gay marriage?  What if I feel offended at the concept of aborting a human fetus?  Shouldn’t I, by this new standard, have the right to force others to stop advocating their opinions?

True the Vote’s founder Catherine Engelbrecht

The problem, as you can probably surmise, is that it would never get to that.  Because I am a middle-aged, white, heterosexual male, no police officer, district attorney, or judge would take seriously my complaints about being offended.  Offense can only be felt significantly enough to warrant government action by those who meet certain randomly proscribed ethnic, racial, religious or sexual criteria.  This is not equal enforcement of the law.

In this same vein, then, you can see how the Redskins’ issue relates to True The Vote’s issue.  If the IRS selectively enforced rules, criteria, or regulations against conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, then the concept of equal enforcement of the law is ruined.  Unless True The Vote is allowed to reasonably make their case, they’ve lost their rights – as have we all.

I conclude by again appealing to my Liberal and Independent readers.  This is not a Conservative issue.  This is an American issue.  If you stand aside and allow this to happen to us (Conservatives), then don’t you think we will stand aside when a future Conservative administration seeks to crush your right to dissent?  Once the precedent has been established, all of our freedoms are jeopardized.  Once we go down that path too far, there is no turning back.  Injuns and emails are more related than you think, and certainly more important than anyone dreamed.

Gregory J. Welborn is a freelance writer and has spoken to several civic and religious organizations on cultural and moral issues.  He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 3 children and is active in the community.  He can be reached [email protected]

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