I Am Gagging Over the Gag Orders

I have looked high and low for a loophole but have failed to find one. I have also read it frontwards and backwards, and the only thing I discovered was that Paul McCartney is not dead (you have to be a child of the 60s to get that analogy). I have examined it under a microscope, ultraviolet light, and even had it X-rayed, but there is nothing that can’t already be seen with the naked eye.

What am I talking about? The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which reads as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Even a cursory reading of this founding document makes one scratch his or her head. Why? Because earlier this month, a judge in New York City placed a limited gag order on former President Donald Trump in his civil fraud case, unilaterally and arbitrarily stripping him of his First Amendment right of freedom of speech. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presides in the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., did likewise this week, basically telling the 45th President of the United States to “zip it or else” in his Georgia election interference trial.

How does that happen in America? Who empowered Judge Arthur Engoron to supersede our founding document… or did he simply act of his own volition? How about Judge Chutkan? Did she even consult the Bill of Rights before issuing her unconstitutional gag order?

I am sure that some Trump critics would claim that the First Amendment only forbids Congress from enacting a law that abridges the right to free speech, but to me that is hairsplitting taken to the extreme. Certainly, our Founding Fathers deemed Congress to be the highest lawmaking entity in the country, outranking a simple judge in New York’s Supreme Court 1st Judicial District or even a federal magistrate.

Ask yourself this question: if Arthur Engoron and Tanya Chutkan, both registered Democrats, can gag a former president, what hope is there for private and powerless citizens like you and me?

Trust me; there have been times when I wished someone would hide Mr. Trump’s phone, mute his mic, and delete his Twitter account (oops, that actually happened under Jack Dorsey). In fact, I will believe to my dying day that his often-petulant behavior, especially in the first presidential debate, cost him re-election in 2020. After all, it was hard to argue with the success of President Trump’s foreign and domestic policies. If only he had exhibited a little more humility and a little more self-control during that campaign, but that is water over the proverbial dam.

The point remains that, just like any American citizen, Donald Trump has the right to speak his mind even if doing so costs him in the polls or at the ballot box. The United States is a constitutional republic, and no man, woman, or judge should have the power to ignore, undermine, or obliterate the Bill of Rights.

Case closed, Judge Engoron, and I find you in contempt of court for abuse of power. I also hereby sentence you to a remedial course at New York University School of Law, because you obviously slept through a few classes while you were there. As for you Judge Chutkan, your gag order has been officially rescinded and I am suspending you without pay pending further investigation. Please leave your gavel and judicial robe with the bailiff.