Freedom of speech explained

"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."

The other day I was at Tops politely stopping all the customers so that I could tell them about our Lord and Savior, Howie Balaban. Some of the customers abridged my First-Amendment right by refusing to stop and listen. I was most offended. To make matters worse, the manager came out and told me I was not allowed “harass” the customers. Did he not care about the Constitution at all? I mean … I was establishing religion and he was prohibiting my exercise thereof.

Then on Saturday, I invited myself to an American Region meeting for the same purpose. Surely the patriotic folks there would allow me to exercise my rights of free speech while they peaceably assembled. But no. Even at the American Region meeting, I was denied my Balaban-given rights as scripted by our founders.

Does no one understand the First Amendment?

Some surely do but if you thought for a second that either of my examples were an abridgement of my right to free speech, you are sorely mistaken.

Sadly, the founders wrote the Constitution in legal-ese. It makes sense, since it is a legal document. But it’s a shame because it has resulted in a lot of people not understanding what should be simple concepts.

Re-read that first paragraph again, please. I’ll wait.

Okay, so the founders took 45 words to say that which I can sum up in 13: “The government can’t tell you what you can or can’t say or worship.”

The first two words are key there. “The government.” In my two fictitious examples above, it wasn’t the government preventing me from speaking. And in fact, in neither situation was I actually prevented from extolling the virtues of one Howie Balaban. I was just asked to extoll them elsewhere.

See, the Constitution -- and by extension, the Bill of Rights -- is a contract between us and the government. It has very little to do with our interactions with one another. No matter how strongly you believe something, I am not duty-bound to listen, nor am I duty-bound to provide you a platform for it. The same holds true for any private business, citizen, newspaper, even the radio station. I can’t tell you the number of people who complained that I was denying their “free-speech” when I was on WLVL. As I told them then, they were welcome to speak their mind. It didn’t mean I had to broadcast it.

Now, why do I say this? Because apparently in beautiful Lockport, New York, you can’t even have a parade without controversy -- without someone accusing someone else of “denying their free speech” because they weren’t allowed to address an audience at a private service organization. And I just wanted to take a moment to put it into perspective. Because no matter what you may have heard, I’m actually a nice guy. And I’m kind of smart … at least when it comes to the Constitution.

Scott Leffler is a figment of your imagination. Any memories you may have of him are probably made up by your own psyche. But he does have a degree in Political Science and he’s on Twitter: @scottleffler. 

This column was originally published on Niagara's Water Cooler. 

Happy 11th Anniversary To All WNY Radio (And 1st Anniversary To All WNY News)

The 24/7 all-local music stream that is All WNY Radio kicked off 11 years ago today in the UAW Hall in Lockport with four bands and -- as you can see from the ad that appeared in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal -- cheap beer.

Eleven years later, we're still going strong, as made evident by our recent anniversary party at Stamps a week ago today. And we intend to keep going.

All WNY Radio is irreverent, unfiltered and raw. All WNY News has tended to take things a bit more seriously -- but not too seriously, we hope. Since its inception, All WNY Radio has broadcast more than 96,000 hours of local music, news, comedy and talk radio. And in the past year, All WNY News has published 7,862 stories, an average of 21 stories a day (with a marked uptick in frequency since the beginning of 2017).

Whether you've been there from Day One or just learned about us yesterday, know that we appreciate you joining us for this journey we're on. Because we've got a long way to go. And we intend to grow.

If you're a musician looking for airplay, check this link out. If you're a writer, artist, photographer, commentator, or simply think you can contribute to the team in some way, send me an email. We're always looking to expand our boundaries.

I could go on. But I won't. I'm sure you've got other things to read. And I heard rumors of cheap beer somewhere.

+Scott Leffler is the founder of All WNY Radio,  publisher of All WNY News, and fan of all WNY things. Tweet him @scottleffler or email him at scott.leffler@allwnyradio.com. 

This column was originally published on All WNY News.

Let's have a party

It's really hard to believe that All WNY Radio is going to turn 11 in just over a month. But since it is, we should probably have a party.

What started as a means of getting airplay for local musicians way back in 2006 has evolved, grown, changed hands, changed hands again, and grown some more -- a lot more, actually -- over the course of the past 11 years.

Ever wonder about the history of All WNY Radio?

Back when All WNY Radio started, I was a talk show host at WLVL AM 1340 in Lockport. A couple bands had given me CDs and asked if I could get them air time. We were a talk radio station. We didn't play music. But I offered to use it as "bumper music." That's the music you hear on talk radio going into and out of commercials. That, of course, led to me getting more music. So I actually started bringing bands in and interviewing them ... and letting them play some tunes live -- or off a CD if they couldn't get all their members together for a 12:30 p.m. Friday gig. That, of course, led to me getting more music. Too much music. More music than I could use.

So in March of 2006, I approached my boss, Dick Greene, and asked if he minded if I set up an online radio station to play local music. Being the genuinely good guy that he is, he said, "sure." With the help of my friends Tom Christy and Joe Speer, I got All WNY Radio off the ground.

Myspace was king of social media at the time and their focus on bands -- and ability to search for bands by genre or location -- made it easy to get music in the early days. Most musicians at the time asked how much it would cost them; We thought that an odd question. Some asked how much we'd pay them; An equally odd question. We wanted to promote the scene.

Over time, we added a talk show. And another. There have been several over the years. We sponsored shows at local watering holes. And we held parties. The best parties -- believe me. We got ourselves a studio in Buffalo thanks to our friend Ted Powell and had way too much fun there.

In 2009, I transferred ownership of All WNY Radio to Corey Hagstrom -- aka Noah Gokey. He built his own partnerships and added Greg Burt to the mix as program director. Greg brought with him the All WNY Music Awards.

In 2015, Corey handed the reigns back to me. I got "ThinkSoJoe" Kent involved again and he started the ThinkSoJoe Show in early 2016. On April 1, 2016 -- 10 years to the date of All WNY Radio's official launch in the UAW Hall in Lockport -- we added All WNY News.

So actually, April 1 is the 11th anniversary of All WNY Radio and the first anniversary of All WNY News. We definitely need to have a party.

Our last shindig was at Stamps. I thought it went over well.

So did Joe: "It feels like a really friendly place, the stage area was set up really well, and the sound was great."

So let's go back on Saturday, March 25. We'll get four bands -- and all our old friends -- add in some cake and maybe some banter from Joe. We'll remember old times and look to the future. It'll be awesome.

We're still working on the lineup but we've confirmed Exham Priory already -- with three more bands to be announced shortly. We'll charge $7 at the door, but offer advance tickets for just $5 through All WNY Deals or through myself, Joe or Greg.

Eleven years. Still hard to believe.

+Scott Leffler is the founder of All WNY Radio and publisher of All WNY News. He's proud of what he's created and excited about what's next.

This column was originally published on All WNY News.