The most consequential issue on the ballot this November is the fate of free speech: your ability to speak your mind.

At former President Donald Trump's campaign rally Saturday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaped on the stage and urged the nation to support Trump as the free speech candidate. It's "the bedrock of democracy," Musk said, warning that "the other side wants to take away your freedom of speech."

That's true. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, want government and its proxies to muzzle us, limiting what we can post on social media, and censuring whatever government deems "misinformation" or hate.

The Constitution's framers understood the dangers of making government the arbiter of what the public should hear or read. The First Amendment bars government from "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."

Since the mid-20th century, the Supreme Court has consistently struck down government attempts to silence speech, even divisive, untrue or hateful speech.

In 1949, Father Arthur Terminiello, a communist, was arrested in Chicago for denouncing racial groups in a hate-filled speech. A city ordinance banned "speech that stirs the public to anger." But the Supreme Court overturned his conviction, ruling that "the vitality........

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