Does Free Speech Exist At The Blaze?
I've been quiet lately but I'm trying to get back to posting regularly and one story that struck a chord with me this week was Tomi Lahren's suspension from The Blaze, the multiplatform news and entertainment network founded by conservative firebrand Glenn Beck. The reason for her suspension? Apparently her pro-choice stance doesn't live up to Beck's standards and, though he hired her in 2015, he's questioning whether she's intellectually honest.
According to a report from The Hill, Lahren's suspension (which started yesterday) is due to last a week but she may be released from The Blaze entirely due to rising tensions with other Blaze employees and hosts.
In the past, Lahren's held numerous controversial viewpoints that The Blaze never seemed to cluck about:
- After the Super Bowl in February 2016, she used her "Final Thoughts" segment of her show to rail against Beyonce's halftime show performance with its references to Black Lives Matter and the Black Panthers.
- She spoke out against Jesse Williams and his speech at the BET Awards by pointing out "The BET definition of a humanitarian is someone who perpetuates a war on cops."
- In a tweet on 7/7/2016, she compared Black Lives Matter to the KKK and a petition was started demanding she be fired from The Blaze.
- Lahren criticized Colin Kaepernick's NFL protest of the national anthem but made some valid points.
We’ve had a black president for almost eight years now, maybe he failed you. We also have a black woman in charge of the Justice Department, maybe she failed you, too. Or maybe it’s the liberals, your saviors, which have run your communities into the ground. Where does the buck stop? When will those in black communities take a step back and take some responsi-damn-bility for the problems in black communities?
Now I'm sure people are going to call Tomi a racist (and that's been done before, to no avail), but Tomi Lahren's spoken out against the alt-right and called them a racist group. Glenn Beck even defended her after her interview on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah in which he made every attempt to smear her. And let's be honest with ourselves - he didn't want her on the show for a respectful interview. Trevor Noah invited Tomi Lahren on the show to try to smear her, and it blew up in his face.
Bottom line: Glenn Beck is punishing Tomi Lahren for thinking for herself and speaking her own mind instead of being part of the hive at The Blaze, and that's just plain WRONG, especially for someone like Glenn Beck who used to cry on television every time someone broke out a pocket copy of The Constitution. If you believe in free speech, then you should support it on ALL levels, not just within your own little view of the world and your own little bubble.
I hope Tomi Lahren will go on to greener pastures and deal with people who actually value freedom of expression.
According to a report from The Hill, Lahren's suspension (which started yesterday) is due to last a week but she may be released from The Blaze entirely due to rising tensions with other Blaze employees and hosts.
In the past, Lahren's held numerous controversial viewpoints that The Blaze never seemed to cluck about:
- After the Super Bowl in February 2016, she used her "Final Thoughts" segment of her show to rail against Beyonce's halftime show performance with its references to Black Lives Matter and the Black Panthers.
- She spoke out against Jesse Williams and his speech at the BET Awards by pointing out "The BET definition of a humanitarian is someone who perpetuates a war on cops."
- In a tweet on 7/7/2016, she compared Black Lives Matter to the KKK and a petition was started demanding she be fired from The Blaze.
- Lahren criticized Colin Kaepernick's NFL protest of the national anthem but made some valid points.
We’ve had a black president for almost eight years now, maybe he failed you. We also have a black woman in charge of the Justice Department, maybe she failed you, too. Or maybe it’s the liberals, your saviors, which have run your communities into the ground. Where does the buck stop? When will those in black communities take a step back and take some responsi-damn-bility for the problems in black communities?
Now I'm sure people are going to call Tomi a racist (and that's been done before, to no avail), but Tomi Lahren's spoken out against the alt-right and called them a racist group. Glenn Beck even defended her after her interview on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah in which he made every attempt to smear her. And let's be honest with ourselves - he didn't want her on the show for a respectful interview. Trevor Noah invited Tomi Lahren on the show to try to smear her, and it blew up in his face.
Bottom line: Glenn Beck is punishing Tomi Lahren for thinking for herself and speaking her own mind instead of being part of the hive at The Blaze, and that's just plain WRONG, especially for someone like Glenn Beck who used to cry on television every time someone broke out a pocket copy of The Constitution. If you believe in free speech, then you should support it on ALL levels, not just within your own little view of the world and your own little bubble.
I hope Tomi Lahren will go on to greener pastures and deal with people who actually value freedom of expression.