California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a communist in training, got some news that is going to send the Patrick Bateman look alike into an absolute temper tantrum, and I got to say, you just love to see it. A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Newsom’s meme ban was unconstitutional. This, of course, should be a no-brainer. The First Amendment guarantees the right of freedom of speech for all Americans. Speaking freely is a right given to us by our Creator. The Constitution merely provides legal protection. The government thus has no authority to place a limit like a meme ban on that right.
The ruling was made by Judge John A. Mendez of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, who pointed out that the ban, known as AB 2839, “acts as a hammer instead of a scalpel, serving as a blunt tool that hinders humorous expression and unconstitutionally stifles the free and unfettered exchange of ideas which is so vital to American debate.”
via TheBlaze:
Christopher Kohls, the satirist who sued in hopes of killing the ban, took to X, writing, “VICTORY! Lawsuit against Newsom has been won.” Elon Musk, whose re-sharing of one of Kohls’ memes appears to have prompted Democrats to push the ban, wrote, “California’s unconstitutional law infringing on your freedom of speech has been blocked by the court. Yay!”
Kohls, who goes by Mr Reagan online, shared a Kamala Harris campaign ad parody on July 26. The video used many visuals present in real Harris ads in circulation at the time but had a new script read by a convincing AI-generated Harris soundalike.
“I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate,” the AI voice in the almost two-minute video goes on to say. “I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire. I am both a woman and a person of color. So if you criticize anything I say, you’re both sexist and racist.”
The video enjoyed significantly more traction after Elon Musk retweeted it, netting hundreds of millions of views. Of course, Democrats in and outside the Harris campaign were apoplectic.
A spokeswoman representing the Harris campaign spoke with The Associated Press saying, “We believe the American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.”
Newsom was deeply irked by the success the video enjoyed, going on to write, “Manipulating a voice in an ‘ad’ like this one should be illegal. I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is.”
Musk once again retweeted the offending video and wrote to Newsom, “I checked with renowned world authority, Professor Suggon Deeznutz, and he said parody is legal in America.”
Hopefully, you have caught on to the fact that no such professor actually exists and that the name of this fake individual is merely a crude, crass, and hilarious joke.
To make a very lengthy story shorter than Peter Dinklage, Kohl sued over the ban and won the case, which is a massive victory for those of us who believe in freedom of speech and the utilization of new technology to create parodies designed to enlighten and entertain.