Station:    KNUS, 710 am

Show:       Peter Boyles Show

Guests:    Neville, Tim

Link:       http://peterboyles.podbean.com/

Date:        September 27, 2017

Topics:     Southern Poverty Law Center, SPLC, Freedom of Speech, First Amendment, Second Amendment, College Campuses, John Suthers, Saudi Arabia, Justice System, Jack Phillips, Jefferson County School District Curriculum,

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HOST PETER BOYLES:  And we’ll be talking with the [man] who represents the 16^th [Senate] District, and your Colorado Senator. Tim, good morning, man!  Welcome back to the show!

STATE SENATOR FROM COLORADO’S SIXTEENTH SENATE DISTRICT, TIM NEVILLE:  Hey, thank you, Peter. [I’m] glad to be here.

BOYLES:  Yeah, I mean this is one of the – again, he wrote a piece called
“Attacks on Free Speech Aren’t Just Confined to College Campuses”.  In the piece you talk about my favorite organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center. Now, Tancredo is coming up and Jeffco schools are using curriculum from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Tommy called — threw the BS flag at them, and they have never gotten back to Tom on anything. So, you’re not shocked about that. I’ll turn it over to you:  The king of the fear mongers, the Southern Poverty Law Center and your thoughts.

TIM NEVILLE:  Sure. I think at one time – and you know, I grew up in the South, Peter, and the Southern Poverty Law Center was – when Morris Dee was fighting the Klan, back in the day – there were doing some very noble work, I believe. Unfortunately, they’ve morphed into an organization that is focused on raising money and using their hate — their hate map — to try to raise money for the organization. And they’ve actually branded so many people that are not hate groups as part of that, and really besmirched their reputation. But also, [they] put people in danger. I mean, we’ve had situations like the – you know– the shooting in Washington DC with the Family Research Council that related back to the – you know, the shooter said that he took action because he saw them on a list — a hate list — with the Southern Poverty Law Center. So, you know, they have really lost their way.

BOYLES:  Well, they have also named schools, now — and named schools that have –quote—“bad names”, or politically incorrect names. They put out a list of schools, of elementary schools! What kind of sickness runs these people?

TIM NEVILLE:  Well, it kind of reminds me of, you know, — if you go back in history, you’ve seen it before, where – I mean, even back to the French Revolution, when they started basically a reform movement that started making sure the guillotine was busy. And after a while, everybody was in line for the guillotine.

BOYLES:  Yeah, Robespierre gets the guillotine. But that’s the notion of witch hunting that eventually the witch hunters hunt themselves. So, that’s what we’ve been talking about, that for years, that these people will find more and more and more and more things to – what do you do now with – and has anything crossed your desk, or [have you] had anybody come up and lobby you on name changing here, in Colorado?

TIM NEVILLE:  You know, they have not, yet. I imagine we’ll probably see things and we may see something within the next legislative session. But you know, it’s kind of funny. I mean, you know, with history, you have to put everything in perspective. But you also have to understand, what is the proper role of history? What is the proper role of — whether it be monuments or whatever else — we do have teachable moments. So when Jason Glass put out — Superintendent Glass with Jeffco Public Schools – put out his comments regarding teachable moments, yes!, we do have teachable moments. But you have to include all the details, including what led up to — in the Charlottesville issue — what led up to Charlottesville, and what the protest was about, and how it was handled. You have to get all the details out in front, and I don’t think utilizing curricula that is designed by the Southern Poverty Law Center is in the best interest of people in Jefferson County.

BOYLES:  Agreed! Yeah, we’re going to talk with Tom [Tancredo] in the eight [o’clock hour]. I’ve got five bucks [to bet that] says they haven’t got back to Tom. So, having said that, uh, free speech – the First Amendment. As you know, [at] Berkeley and all these different campuses, the only acceptable speech is their speech approval, not the First Amendment. And as Jefferson teaches us, the First Amendment is not [about] what you like. It’s about what you don’t like.

TIM NEVILLE:  Exactly!

BOYLES:  And these people are destroying — and again, I say this all the time — the Second [Amendment] and the First, most historians that I read say if you can get the Second, you’ll get the First. The Second is there to protect the First. Your thoughts?

TIM NEVILLE:  Oh, without a doubt! You know, I’m a big Second Amendment activist when it comes to what the Second Amendment means, and that it is the linchpin. It is the linchpin for all of our individual rights. And I think that we have problems in society where we talk about –. There is a lot of conversation, Peter, about group rights. But really the Constitution outlines individual rights, not necessarily group rights, because how do you have group rights? And how do you put certain people in certain groups? Is that what we’re trying to do within a — within a constitutional republic?

BOYLES:  Tim Neville is with us. There are people trying to give human rights to rivers and streams and prairie dogs. And this is the absurdity of the liberal left. But, — and then coming up with a term that you talk about: ‘hate speech’. So, what, really is hate speech? Hate speech is what?

TIM NEVILLE:  Well, I think a lot of people believe that hate speech is just something that they find – you know, they don’t agree with.  And, you know, the thing they have to understand is that the First Amendment was there to protect all kinds of speech, including what many people may classify as hate speech. You don’t need to protect — as you mentioned before, you don’t need protection from something that, you know, is kind and fluffy and nice and everybody agrees with it, but you do need protection of speech that people do find disagreeable. But is a difference between hate speech — and then, the limit on that is speech that actually incites people to commit violence or to take actions against their fellow citizens. That’s where the division has been under law, and [that] courts have found. And I think that’s a proper division.

BOYLES:  Our guest is Tim Neville.  Did John – “John of Arabia”, John Suthers — did he have the right to tell an organization that was coming to the Springs he would not give them any public support?

TIM NEVILLE:  Absolutely not!

BOYLES:  I agree!

TIM NEVILLE:  No, you know, he basically swears an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Colorado. And everyone is afforded that protection. You know, all of our — as elected officials, we only have one responsibility: it’s to serve the people. And also to uphold the Constitution that we swear to uphold. So, you know, to me that was a dereliction of duty.

BOYLES:  No, but it is John Suthers. He is one of the more interesting members of your Party. John of Arabia!

TIM NEVILLE:  [laughs] Well, you know, both parties have very interesting people.

BOYLES:  Yes, they do!

TIM NEVILLE:  And it’s always a challenge. And I think, Peter, that many people out there get frustrated – particularly in the grassroots and the people I talk to – with parties, in general. And it would be fortunate, you know – I think our party has some very, very solid platform issues that we have adopted.

BOYLES:  Yeah.

TIM NEVILLE:  And unfortunately, we run into problems when people just forget about that platform. And, you know, that platform comes up from grassroots. It’s a great process – if people have been to their caucuses and seen how that works. But, you know, when some people — for their own convenience or, you know, political expediency — decide to violate those, it creates a problem. And it does hurt the brand.

BOYLES:  Well, when he went to Saudi Arabia to explain the American justice system to Al-Turqi’s family and the king, and no one knows who paid for it, and who sent him. And of course, there has never been any hard inquiries into that. And now he’s the mayor of Colorado Springs. I think when people ask me, “Who’s the most interesting and/or fascinating politican/elected official in Colorado?” – it is, hands down, Suthers.  He is a — he’s an adventure. And he got away with –.

TIM NEVILLE:  Well, you know, transparent –.

BOYLES:  Oh, please!

TIM NEVILLE:  [chuckles] Yeah. Transparency and sunlight – they always say sunlight is the greatest disinfectant.

BOYLES:  Not here.

TIM NEVILLE:  And I think for the political system that’s true, too. So, uh, shining a light on it is pretty important!

BOYLES:  Who — did you ever ask him who paid for those trips?

TIM NEVILLE:  I haven’t. And I haven’t had a conversation with John Suthers in – oh, gosh! I may have only had several in my career down here at the legislature. I’ve shared a number of frustrations, whether it be the Jack Phillips case –

BOYLES:  There’s another one!