Seriously, my grandpa is “very MAGA”, as he calls himself, a “radconservative” or something. He is very open about his views on people being able to freely speak their minds without censorship, yet he gets REALLY mad when I say the following:
Swear words (even “hell”, “crap”, or “damn”)
Epstein Files should be released
Trump being on the Files apparently more times than God’s name appears in the book about Himself: the Bible.
Even mentioning the word “gay” or saying something about a gay couple
Trans people
Seriously, I have cousins who are grown adults, maybe mid-20s who would absolutely FREAK if I said the word “trans”. They will actually panic and say “Oh, um, maybe let’s not talk about that…” and then nervously laugh like it’s a super taboo subject.
This is NOT the 1950s.
You can’t just listen to what they say. You have to listen to what they mean. For many people, and I think especially conservatives, the emotional level is the real one. Words exist to promote this hazy dreamscape of feelings.
So they say free speech but they mean “follow my standards of speech”
They mean “I want to be able to say racist shit at Thanksgiving without being hassled by the rest of the family”.