Previously I’ve explored the topic of civil public discourse. You can read those posts here and here. We live in a society now where everything is being weaponized. Social media has not only been weaponized but is increasingly being subject to censorship by the owners of the various platforms. Those owners aren’t who we think they are, but that’s a discussion for another day.

Whether it be legacy media, such as newspapers, terrestrial radio and broadcast television, or online platforms that post videos and/or audio podcasts and commentary of all sorts, the battle has intensified. Each of these media are slowly but surely being weaponized. This process is insidious – because the rules and social mores that previously were understood and acknowledged by most participants have changed. Agree to disagree is on very thin ice out in the public square. This weaponizing of all things has spilled over into government. It’s not that government hasn’t always possessed the weapons, it’s that the rules that have governed their use has changed. The restraints on governmental power have been loosening over time.

We can see it on the federal level. For example, we have a president being impeached. And the charge? Obstruction of congress. That’s a charge for which there is no legal precedent. It doesn’t exist. Growing up, I was taught that the three branches of government were supposed to obstruct each other. That was called “checks and balances”. No matter what you might think of the president, or those who voted for him, if we cannot respect our differences and accept lawful results, we cannot have a civil society. But in today’s weaponized world, one side will “criminalize” what used to simply be disagreements over policy. We simply cannot agree to disagree anymore.

We are not immune to this phenomenon on the local level. Last spring we experienced the weaponization of our local school board – the Jefferson County Board of Education. In this case the Board, entrusted by the public to ensure that our children get a quality education, put at risk hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of taxpayer dollars to fight a political battle against Rockwool. Fortunately, Rockwool wound up acting in good faith, even though the School Board had not.

Bear in mind that Jefferson County taxpayers over the years have voted in favor of the excess levee to provide extraordinary funding for our local schools. To paraphrase what I said in the previous paragraph: No matter what side of this political issue you might be on, if we cannot respect our differences and accept lawful results, we cannot have a civil society. The local Board of Education’s reckless use of taxpayer funds as a political weapon is unconscionable. Their participation had nothing to do with their mandate to educate the children of our county and was a clear misuse of authority; an abuse of the public trust.

More recently the Mayor of Harpers Ferry weaponized his office and the municipality he purports to represent. State Senator Patricia Rucker scheduled a press conference to announce legislation that might affect the municipality of Harpers Ferry. She applied to the municipality for a permit to hold the press conference at the Harpers Ferry Train station. He would not agree to the permit unless Senator Rucker disclosed the content of the announcement that she was going to make at the press conference. Given the fact that Senator Rucker is an elected official – this attempt to censor has a political element to it. This goes against our principles of free speech in the town square.

Publishers have a right to edit the content of their publications. Public officials do not have the right to edit our speech. The town square is that sacrosanct space where ideas are exchanged and differences of opinion are respected. In a world where everything is being weaponized we need to de-escalate before it’s too late.