Freedom of speech: "No 1st Amendment right to go into an auditorium & prevent a speaker from being heard"

By GottaLaff

Erwin Chemerinsky wrote an op-ed about a free speech debate they're having at UC Irvine, where he is dean.

However, there were two paragraphs that stood out to me, because he could have been writing about the Tea Tantrumers and their megaphonic escapades during the health care reform town hall meetings et al:

Freedom of speech, on campuses and elsewhere, is rendered meaningless if speakers can be shouted down by those who disagree. The law is well established that the government can act to prevent a heckler's veto -- to prevent the reaction of the audience from silencing the speaker. There is simply no 1st Amendment right to go into an auditorium and prevent a speaker from being heard, no matter who the speaker is or how strongly one disagrees with his or her message.

The remedy for those who disagreed with the ambassador was to engage in speech of their own, but in a way that was not disruptive. They could have handed out leaflets, stood with picket signs, spoken during the question-and-answer session, held a demonstration elsewhere on campus or invited their own speakers.

People really need to brush up on the First Amendment.

Especially people who complain that theirs are the rights being trampled upon.

Especially people who corrupt our democracy.

Especially people who infringe on the free speech of others.

Especially people who look like this:

Knock knock! Who's there? Secret Service. Joke over.

By GottaLaff

Watch what you say and what you write. This Live Journal entry is from 2004. The author had written a jokey prayer that read, "God, please take W?".

Knock knock:

A couple of weeks ago, following the last presidential debate, I said some rather inflammatory things about George W. Bush in a public post in my LJ, done in a satirical style. We laughed, we ranted, we all said some things. I thought it was a fairly harmless (and rather obvious) attempt at humor in the face of annoyance, and while a couple of people were offended, as is typical behavior from me, I saw something shiny and forgot about it, thinking that the whole thing was over and done and nothing else would come of what I said.

I was wrong.

At 9:45 last night, the Secret Service showed up on my mother's front door to talk to me about what I said about the President, as what I said could apparently be misconstrued as a threat to his life. After about ten minutes of talking to me and my family, they quickly came to the conclusion that I was not a threat to national security (mostly because we are the least threatening people in the entire world) and told me that they would not recommend that any further action be taken with my case. However, I do now have a file with the FBI that includes my photograph, my e-mail address, and the location of my LJ. This will follow me around for the rest of my life, regardless of the fact that the Secret Service knows that I am not a threat.

Now go read her advice.

Allow me a stream-of-consciousness reaction...

I'm not big on the Secret Service telling me what to say, but it goes without saying why they have to take these things so seriously.

Personally, I've always drawn the line at wishing death or harm on others. I've held to those standards whether it was during my Comedy Store/Improv days, teaching comedy to the kiddies. my private life, or during my angriest moments here at TPC...not because I might get snagged by the Secret Service, but because I've always found that kind of humor distasteful.

Yes, they're just words, but words count. That's how we communicate. Without them, we couldn't talk or write. They mean something, especially when uttered publicly.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not invalidating anyone's emotions, considering I have a few strong ones of my own that I have to keep in check from time to time.

But, speaking for myself, when it comes to wishing pain, suffering, or death on others, my little quips come to a screeching halt. Again, that's just me. I'm sure I've slipped from time to time, and I regret that, but as a rule, I steer clear of death humor.

I feel for the author of the Live Journal, she was throwing out a mild, casual joke, and she got a very rude awakening. I believe that was overkill on the part of the SS (no pun).

And just like her, I will continue to write what I feel, I will continue to voice my opinions and snark like a maniac... but I will be now be even more aware of how I express myself.

However, I have to admit, I'm glad Boy Georgie's not in office any more, or I'd have a much tougher time self-monitoring.

H/t: txvoodoo in response to this post.

Anti-choice license plate battle may end at Supreme Court

By GottaLaff

Can I have a license plate that says, "Muslims rock!" or "Abortion is legal"?

From the Guardian:

...That has prompted political and legal battles in states that are refusing to adopt them, as well as demands for plates in support of abortion rights in states that permit the Choose Life version. The arguments look increasingly likely to end up before the supreme court.

In North Carolina, anti-abortion supporters last month put a bill before the state legislature for the eighth time to add a Choose Life plate to the 130 specialised ones already on offer. (They include designs celebrating fox hunters, a police motorcycle club, and shag dancing, a regional form of the jitterbug.) Approximately 400,000 of the state's eight million registered vehicles carry specialist plates, which cost an extra $30 with a portion of the fee going to the cause on display.

The bill was introduced by a Republican member of North Carolina's legislature, Mitch Gillespie, who says he cannot see why anyone would object to a Choose Life plate. "We are not going to unveil a tag that would have something on there that is offensive to anybody, that would show a foetus or something like that," he said.

Oh, well then, so long as we don't see a plethora of plates emblazoned with, "I heart [graphic of fetus]"...

The problem, IMHO, is where the money goes via vehicle registration, not the message. But freedom of speech issues prevail:

In January, Arizona lost a suit filed after it denied a similar request for a pro-life license plate. The plate was ruled free speech, according to the San Francisco Chronicle [...]

Virginia became the most recent state to add a pro-life license plate design, joining 22 others which have adopted similar plates.

The group pushing "Choose Life" plates have been at this for quite a while, starting in Florida 12 years ago. It seems this little 501(c)(3), agree with 'em or not, has managed to be effective.

There's something unseemly about anti-choicers trying to push their message on the fronts/backs of a cars and trucks. Pushy, aren't they?

Principal Forbids 5th Grader To Wear Obama Shirt To School

Sorry Ady, it's South Carolina. Via.

Bill O'Reilly Still Skirmishing the "War On Christmas"

Kelly tries, but there is no getting thru that skull of Billo's. Dave at C&L caught something I didn't- They're not mocking Gregoire Bill, they're mocking you.

Thousands rally for release of Bush shoe attacker

Told you he was going to end up a hero. I wouldn't go so far as to call throwing your shoes at a world leader "freedom of speech" though.

Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.

Crowds gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City district, calling for "hero" Muntadar al-Zaidi to be freed from custody. There were similar scenes in Najaf.

(snip)

An Iraqi official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the journalist was being interrogated to determine whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at President Bush.

He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV channel said Mr Zaidi should be freed because he had been exercising freedom of expression - something which the Americans had promised to Iraqis on the ousting of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Texas Students Punished for Dorm-Room Obama Signs

By GottaLaff

I've been trying like crazy to post about the NSA's eavesdropping on Americans' pillow talk, but the video won't load. Now we have freedom of speech being crushed... again:

The University of Texas has barred two students from registering for spring classes after they refused to take down political signs from their dormitory window.

Connor Kincaid and his cousin and roommate, Blake Kincaid, said they were told by a UT staff member during an administrative hearing Wednesday to take down their signs supporting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

''This is an important free speech issue,'' said Connor Kincaid, a 20-year-old junior who claimed during the administrative hearing that he saw a sign supporting Republican candidate John McCain in the window of another dorm.

The university says their policy of no sign posting in dorm windows is designed to avoid the appearance of their support for any candidate.

University Democrats and Republicans are working together to fight rules they say are unconstitutional. They said they were encouraging students across campus to put signs in their dorm windows as a form of protest to force the university to hold thousands of hearings.

Meanwhile, it's the Obama supporter who suffers the consequences of this rule. Big surprise.

UPDATE, via Eve (who lives in Texas):

UT suspends ban on signs in dorm windows

By Patrick George | Thursday, October 9, 2008, 12:12 PM

University of Texas officials announced this morning that they are suspending a rule that prohibits displaying signs in dorm room windows.

Two cousins were involved in a battle with UT officials because they displayed Obama campaign signs in their windows. The rule against displaying signs of any sort was widely criticized by students, as well as University Democrats and College Republicans.

Jeff Graves, associate vice president for legal affairs at UT, said that rule was suspended this morning and the university will convene a committee of students and staff to review it. Until then, students are free to display whatever signs they want in their windows, he said.

Thanks, Evers!

IWRC* Palin muzzles press: Musn't write "negative things"

By GottaLaff

This is what happens to our freedom under the strangulation tactics of the IWRC* Palin/Gramm-pa McCain campaign. Florida:

Constantly under the watchful eyes of security, the media wasn't permitted to wander around inside Coachman Park to talk to Sarah Palin supporters. When reporters tried to leave the designated press area and head toward the bleachers where the crowd was seated, an escort would dart out of nowhere and confront him or her and say, "Can I help you?'' and turn the person around.

When one reporter asked an escort, who would not give her name, why the press wasn't allowed to mingle, she said that in the past, negative things had been written. The campaign wanted to avoid that possibility Monday.

Bush III, Cheney II.

However, it's perfectly fine for IWRC* to incite violence and racial hatred by saying "negative things" about Obama. Apparently, that's their idea of equal rights. Why is this a close race again?

50k Expected In Minneapolis To Protest

Wonder how many of them they got illegally arrested beforehand? The Police State at it's finest.

About 50,000 are expected today, despite no-shows by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The protest begins at 11 a.m. at the Capitol building and will march to the Xcel Energy Center and back.

Despite the big-name cancellations and the preconvention police raids, organizers expect thousands of anti-war demonstrators to march this afternoon from the State Capitol to the site of the Republican National Convention.

They say their passion will not be dampened now that President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are skipping their convention speeches because of Hurricane Gustav. If anything, they say, the storm enhances their message that investing in human needs must outweigh waging an expensive war.

But the protesters are also concerned that aggressive police tactics could cull their numbers, which they estimate could reach 50,000 today.

There is some scary shit going on over there.