The Patriot Post® · A Fourth to Be Reckoned With
If you’re wondering what the most dangerous place for an African-American is, try the womb. More than 40% of black children are losing their lives to abortion before they start — but you won’t hear that from the NAACP. In one of the more tragic ironies of liberalism, the longtime civil rights group has become a shill for the thing destroying its community: abortion on demand. Not only does the organization ignore the biggest killer in the black community — it won’t tolerate others exposing it.
And after two years in court, Ryan Bomberger can prove it. The Radiance Foundation’s head, whose gripping testimony has transformed the way people think about abortion, has dedicated his life to telling the truth about the dark world of the abortion business. And the truth is this: that the abortion industry targets black children — and too many leaders of the community are silent about it. To help draw attention to that fact, Ryan took on the NAACP in a powerful piece called “NAACP: National Association for the Abortion of Colored People” about the organization’s complicity in that agenda.
Not surprisingly, the group wasn’t too pleased with the characterization and ultimately took the Foundation to court on the bogus grounds that Ryan had misused the organization’s trademark. Bomberger was shocked. “[A]s a biracial adult … I could never have conceived that I would be sued (along with The Radiance Foundation) by the very organization I used to revere all because I exercised one of my most basic civil rights — free speech.” The case was so far-fetched that even the ACLU was willing to split with its liberal pals and support Bomberger’s defense. “[T]he right to parody prominent organizations like the NAACP is an essential element of the freedom of speech.” If parodies were unconstitutional, there’d be no such thing as late-night television!
Much to the Left’s displeasure, free speech doesn’t have to be popular to be protected. In this case, it’s both. A federal judge disagreed — unleashing a wild opinion that banned Ryan from “even mentioning the parodied name or parodying the NAACP’s name in the future.” With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, Bomberger appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which wasted no time rebuking the lower court’s logic. In a huge victory for free speech (and the millions of children who could be saved by Bomberger’s), the three-judge panel blew apart the Left’s arguments, ruling 3-0 in Radiance’s favor.
“Trademark law,” the court wrote, “[is] not [a] proper vehicle for combatting speech with which one does not agree. Trademarks do not give their holders under the rubric of dilution the rights to stymie criticism. Criticism of large and powerful entities in particular is vital to the democratic function… The article in this case was harsh. But that did not forfeit its author’s First Amendment liberties.”
For Bomberger, the case isn’t just about upholding pro-life speech, but bringing attention to the real problem — which is that the NAACP is carrying on the legacy of an industry aggressively targeting its daughters. “Our inner-cities are crumbling,” Ryan pointed out, “two-parent married families barely exist, 72.3 percent of black children are born into homes without fathers, and the NAACP wants to silence us for pointing out its documented support of the killing of over 16 million black lives since Roe.” The Left likes to use the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. This is their chance to prove it.
Law and Executive Order…
If liberals thought they could lie their way to victory in Louisiana, they’ve got another thing coming. After steamrolling leaders in Indiana, the Left has met its match in Governor Bobby Jindal ®. Frustrated by the legislators’ cowardice, Governor Jindal heeded the wishes of 67 percent of the state and issued an executive order to do what the state house would not: stop state-sponsored persecution against people of faith.
Governor Jindal, who broke the news with me on [Tuesday’s] “Washington Watch,” was frustrated — not only because the Marriage and Conscience Act was misrepresented, but because it never even got a vote! “You and religious I have both heard these crazy hypothetical examples,” he told me. “But we need to understand that these aren’t hypothetical cases anymore. We’re seeing real examples of discrimination against Christians, against Christian business owners. You saw it in Oregon, you saw it in New York, you saw it in Washington State. You see it where florists, bakers, and others are forced to participate in wedding ceremonies that offend their religious beliefs or they disagree with. Or they’re being fined thousands of dollars and being forced to close their businesses. So we’re not talking about hypothetical examples. This is happening today in America, all across the country.”
And a bill that should have been a political no-brainer to stop it was sabotaged. “You understand why this is so important,” Governor Jindal went on. “One of the greatest threats to our freedom is the area of religious liberty… The Left wants to erase the firmly held religious beliefs that they don’t agree with… They’re tolerant of everybody except anyone they disagree with… So we’re going to issue an executive order today” that bars the government from using contracts, funds, licenses, certifications, or other weapons to punish Louisianans who believe in man-woman marriage.
As Governor Jindal pointed out, “All Christians are asking for is the right to live in America according to their beliefs.” And thanks to him, they’ll have it — at least in Louisiana.
Starbucks on Dangerous Grounds with WiFi Policy
Starbucks and McDonalds filter their coffee — but not their WiFi. Despite more than 46,000 petitions, the two businesses refuse to block pornography from their free Internet service. And in some stores, the access is already costing them. In December, detectives arrested a man in Oregon for downloading child porn at the Starbucks hotspot. And that’s just one report of people using the free Internet to traffic children or solicit them for sex.
An organization called Enough Is Enough pressuring Starbucks and McDonalds to do what Chick-fil-A and Panera already do: filter out pornography from their feeds. “It’s about limiting the safe haven that open WiFi creates for sexual predators,” the coalition of 75 organizations, including FRC, argues. Although both companies received the call to action, they aren’t heeding it.
In statements, they said they appreciated the feedback and would take the suggestion “under advisement.” If customers want to click over to the dark world of pornography, let them do it on their own dime. Happy Meals and child porn should not be the new norm. To sign the petition, click over to the EnoughIsEnough website.
This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.