Did you know that Cascade Bicycle Club not only hosts bike rides on streets but also advocates for investing in infrastructure to make streets safer for biking? What a scandal!
Or at least the Editorial Board of the Seattle Times decided all of a sudden that this behavior is somehow scandalous.
Whats not to like about a refreshing bike ride on a Sunday morning?
Advertisement
Turns out, its not so simple.
Im picturing a colorful video of a happy family riding bikes that turns black-and-white while their eyes all start glowing red. What horrible truth have they uncovered?
Well, Cascade is paying for event permits and police staffing and then charging people to participate. And maybe, if things go well, they will even raise some extra money on top. An event promoter hopes to make money by hosting an event. But thats not all. They are even going to use any extra funds to support their stated mission: Improving bicycling.
But the policy the Ed Board is suggesting here would be a major infringement on free speech. Why would a board that claims to believe in the First Amendment and the importance of free speech be arguing that the city should deny permits to an organization because that organization engages in public policy advocacy? I was genuinely shocked when I read this.
Are they arguing that any organization that tries to influence the transportation levy should not be able to receive street use permits? Or just the organizations they disagree with? The Downtown Seattle Association will surely lobby the city about the transportation levy, so should they also stop receiving street use permits? Should unions be denied permits for marches and rallies? Should marathon organizers be banned from lobbying? Imagine a city official saying, You better shut up or you can kiss your permits goodbye. Now THAT would be a scandal.
I think yall should probably go ahead and take this one back, cuz I suspect you havent fully thought through the implications of the policy youre suggesting here. Or if you still stand by it, boy, what a sad state our citys only remaining daily paper is in.
WSDOT and SDOT used to fund these kinds of rides, making them free to everyone. Theres a whole section about it in my book. I would actually prefer the free public-hosted version. But imagine the Seattle Times editorial if SDOT did this exact same event using public funds: We shouldnt spend honest tax payer money on such frivolities! The city should leave these kinds of events to Cascade Bicycle Club!
Cascade itself was even founded initially to organize a Bicycle Sunday-style event on Mercer Island more than 50 years ago, then it immediately shifted into an advocacy organization that raises money in part by holding paid events. This is how Cascade has always worked. Its how they market it. Theres nothing secret or hidden about it. Its weird that the Ed Board decided today that it is some kind of scandal.
Visit link:
The Times Ed Board picks a confusing fight against the Emerald City Ride, free speech - Seattle Bike Blog
- Bill Ackman says he's 'learned a lot' from Elon Musk's X - Quartz - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Opinion | Columbia, Free Speech and the Coddling of the American Right - The New York Times - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- TikTok raises free speech concerns on bill passed by US House that may ban app - Voice of America - VOA News - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- The Right Must Avoid the Left's Free Speech Pitfalls Minding The Campus - Minding The Campus - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Fear and loathing on America's college campuses as free speech is disappearing | Will Bunch - The Philadelphia Inquirer - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Harrison Ford Called 'Free Palestine' Supporters 'Force of Nature' in Speech? - Snopes.com - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Elon Musk to fund new First Amendment campaign to combat 'relentless attacks on free speech' - Fox News - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- TikTok raises free speech concerns on bill passed by US House that may ban app - New York Post - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Navigating The Murky Waters Of Antisemitism, Free Speech, And Academic Freedom - Forbes - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- The choice between safety and free speech is a false one - Daily Trojan Online - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- AI chatbots refuse to produce 'controversial' output why that's a free speech problem - The Conversation - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- UC Virtual Conference Centers Free Speech and Civil Rights Amid Ongoing Tensions on College Campuses - Diverse: Issues in Higher Education - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Free speech freeze-up | D.H. Robinson - The Critic - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Will Columbias law-school dean learn the law of free speech? - JNS.org - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- OSU, OK State Regents for Higher Education complete first required free speech training - Daily O'Collegian - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- TikTok uses free speech card to save itself from US ban, will it be enough? - Hindustan Times - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Settlement Reached in Free Speech Case at Temecula Valley Unified - ACLU of Southern California - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- USC canceled its valedictorian speech: What the university got wrong. - Slate - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- A free speech fiasco united the far-right here's why they remain divided - POLITICO Europe - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- US TikTok Ban Bill Would 'Trample' On Free Speech Rights Of 170M Americans, Says Social Media Giant - Benzinga - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- X marks the spot where free speech comes at a cost - Sydney Morning Herald - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Newly reinstated Texas Tech professor continues to advocate for free speech - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- Coin Center says Senate-presented stablecoin bill poses risks to innovation and free speech - crypto.news - April 22nd, 2024 [April 22nd, 2024]
- TikTok creators worry about free speech and income streams if ban succeeds: 'My livelihood is at stake' - CNBC - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- As Texas students clash over Israel-Hamas war, Gov. Greg Abbott orders colleges to revise free speech policies - The Texas Tribune - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Opinion | The Debate Over Free Speech, Disinformation and Censorship - The New York Times - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- VCU one of the top campuses in the country for free speech, advocacy group says - Axios - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Free Speech Is Under Attack in the U.S., but It's on the Ropes Elsewhere - Reason - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Free speech hangs in the balance in 3 Supreme Court cases - The Hill - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Free Speech Unmuted: Free Speech, Government Persuasion, and Government Coercion - Reason - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- In crowded week for free speech, justices hear 3 First Amendment cases - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Abbott Issues Guidance To Texas Colleges And Universities About Free Speech And Anti-Semitism - EastTexasRadio.com - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Gov. Abbott orders Texas universities to revise free speech policies to combat antisemitism - The UTD Mercury - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- The Liberty Justice Center Urges the U.S. Supreme Court to Uphold Protections for Free Speech in Donor Disclosure ... - Liberty Justice Center - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- GOP pushes anti-free speech bills to fight antisemitism - UnHerd - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- PEN Union Cries Foul in Contract Talks as Criticism of PEN America Intensifies - Publishers Weekly - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- CAIR-Texas Condemns Gov. Abbott's Anti-Palestinian Executive Order as Attack on Free Speech (Video) - - Council on American-Islamic Relations - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Dissent: When It Comes To Free Speech, the Editorial Board Is All Talk. | Opinion - Harvard Crimson - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Gov. Abbott calls for universities to update free speech policies, discipline violators to address antisemitism on campuses - The Daily Texan - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Trump's Free Speech Defense on Trial in Georgia Election Interference Case - Hoodline - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Convicting Julian Assange Would Mean the End of Free Speech - The American Conservative - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Column: Banning TikTok is a blow to free speech - Redmond Spokesman - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Free Speech Is Under Such Threat In Canada It Would Make Orwell Blush - Forbes - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- More on Coercion, Social Media, and Freedom of Speech: Rejoinder to Philip Hamburger - Reason - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- OfS free speech guidance: time will tell if it builds understanding - The PIE News - March 29th, 2024 [March 29th, 2024]
- Kevin Rennie: Jaw-dropping attack on free speech and assembly in a CT town. It hurts us all. - Hartford Courant - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Chemerinsky: Navigating Free Speech on Campus, A First Amendment Perspective - The Collegian online - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Bentley Hosts Forum on Free Speech on College Campuses with Legal Expert Harvey Silverglate - Bentley University - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- POLL: 69% of Americans believe country on wrong track on free speech - Foundation for Individual Rights in Education - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- In Defense of Free Speech and the Mission of the University - Public Discourse - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Free Speech and Common Carriage: Unpacking the Supreme Court's Examination of the Texas and Florida Social ... - Public Knowledge - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast | Free speech news: NetChoice, Taylor Swift, October 7, and Satan - Foundation for Individual Rights in Education - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Supreme Court to Decide How the First Amendment Applies to Social Media - The New York Times - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on Texas social media law - The Texas Tribune - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Bill aimed at protecting free speech rights advancing in SC House - News From The States - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Champion of Free Speech and Journalism Margaret Talev Leads Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship ... - Syracuse University News - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Kinsey student says IU administrator infringed on free speech rights at demonstration - Indiana Daily Student - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- CBS News boss who signed off on firing Catherine Herridge to get free speech award - New York Post - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- U.S. Supreme Court to hear Texas and Florida cases about free speech and social media platforms - Texas Standard - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Should Honking Your Horn Be Considered Free Speech? - The Autopian - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Event: Free speech implications of the ICJ South Africa v. Israel case - ARTICLE 19 - Article 19 - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Takeaways From the Supreme Court Arguments on Social Media Laws - The New York Times - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Free Speech Unmuted: Book Bansor Are They? - Reason - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Florida anti-free speech bill targets 'liberal media' but guess who's really mad at it? - KeysNews.com - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Supreme Court arguments over social media laws and free speech are defining social media itself - Quartz - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Canadian measure would remove free speech protection for quoting Bible, sacred texts - Washington Times - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Suffield scraps plan to restrict the use of the town green following pushback from free speech advocates - FOX61 Hartford - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- FIRST PERSON: Free speech fails for Zionists at UC Berkeley - The Jewish News of Northern California - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Menard Center and pre-law club host discussion regarding AI and Free Speech - UWEC Spectator - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Supreme Court arguments over future of social media and free speech - WFXRtv.com - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Judge skeptical of lawsuit brought by Elon Musk's X over hate speech research - NPR - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Israeli philosopher Yoram Hazony lectures on free speech, antisemitism while students hold vigil - Observer Online - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Big Tech fights Texas and Florida at SCOTUS, and Brett Kavanaugh might be the one saving the internet as we know it. - Slate - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Biden Is Trying to Balance Gaza Protests and Free Speech Rights as Demonstrators Disrupt His Events - U.S. News & World Report - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- British Universities Are Repressing Free Speech on Palestine - Jacobin magazine - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- The Future of Academic Freedom - The New Yorker - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- "College Is All About Curiosity. And That Requires Free Speech." - Reason - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- Palestine and the crisis of free speech on college campuses - The Real News Network - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- College Is All About Curiosity. And That Requires Free Speech. - The New York Times - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- Letters: Money is not free speech and a corporation is not a person - Akron Beacon Journal - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]