FREEDOM OF SPEECH, n. 1) A sacred, inviolable right which is curtailed only when the powers that be deem it expedient. Thus, freedom of speech is an excellent barometer of the ruling elite’s level of insecurity: when the powers that be feel nearly totally secure, the rabble enjoy near-total freedom of speech; when the elites feel threatened, down come the clamps; and the more threatened they feel, the harder the clamps come down; 2) The inalienable right to agree with the powers that be on any and every subject. Also, the inalienable right to disagree–as long as your words have no effect whatsoever.
(The above definitions, needless to say, do not apply to contrarian speech from the clearly deranged, which is always accorded full constitutional protection and serves as a shining example of the respect granted even the most outlandish notions in the land of the free.)
* * *
–from the revised and expanded edition of The American Heretic’s Dictionary, the best modern successor to Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary
Sharp and Pointed 