Train Wreck To The Right....

Lately, when you read the news, you have see the jokers from the Westboro Baptist Church picketing soldiers funerals. When I see them, I feel a rage inside screaming... How can these people do this to a person they didn't know? Why are they saying that it's great that this person was killed? I don't say that they should not be allowed to do it.

Granted, the first time I read about them I was saying they should be silenced. Thrown away so people can never hear thier rectoric ever again. After careful consideration and thought, Let them picket, let them scream at the top of thier lungs what they say. Because if they are silenced, we can be silenced. The First Amendment doesn't cover who we choose it should cover. It covers everybody no matter how outragious they message. That is what it was set up for.

Take Winston Churchhill. He compared the victims of the World Trade Center disaster with the likes of Hitler. The people were outraged he would say things about the innocent people killed. People were calling for his termination from his job. Why? Because they didn't like his opinion. I didn't like it but it was his personal opinion. The University he works at wasn't mentioned in the opinion but some of the higher ups at the University wanted him shit canned. Just because he works there doesn't mean he can't express himself. The University has no grounds to fire him because they know it's most likely illegal. Freedom of Speech. Nobody was physically hurt by his words so it wasn't illegal.

I speak my mind especially on subjects that I know will inscense people because of thier religious convictions or a personal view. I try to make people think before they speak up again. If I know you have no idea what you are talking about, I'll call you on it. I'll piss you off arguing about my point of view. I do it because it's guarenteed by the First Amemdment and no court, government entity, private industry or person in the country can force me to stop. There are provisions to that. I can't say anything false about somebody which isn't true, that's Libel. That's why I say "In my opinion..." whenever I begin to rant.

Look at Larry Flint. Flynt is the publisher of the porn magazine Hustler. Anybody who has looked at Hustler knows how bad it can be. Larry took his fight all the way to the Supreme Court because Rev. Jerry Fallwell didn't like what Flynt published about him. The court ruled in favor of Larry Flynt based on the Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression clause to the First Amendment. This opened the door for others to follow in Flynts footsteps when it came to writing about public figures.

So in essense... if you don't like what you see... don't look at it a second time. If you don't like what I say, don't read or listen to me. The next time you see an accident on the road don't look because you may cause a second accident which will be YOUR fault.

Eric