Posted on 03/02/2011 7:27:39 AM PST by Pyro7480
Edited on 03/02/2011 7:31:23 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
This is strictly a 1st Amendment issue, even though we don’t agree with the WBC thugs. The communities are taking care of things locally by turning out to obstruct WBCers’ view, shout them down, etc.
I’d rather not see the SCOTUS rule against a free-speech issue, because the left will use it against those who protest against them.
I hate the freaks at the WBC, but IMO this is the right decision.
So, let me get this straight, you can't tell the difference between the person in the military who gave their life after possibly hundreds of days in horrid conditions to secure YOUR freedom as well as his own family's, and the thugs who show up at this persons funerals screaming at their parents that that military person is going to HELL because he died for America and God has judged America and found it wanting because it supports gays.
You really can't tell the difference between the two?
Well, I can. This is what's known as moral equivalency and my morals are on very straight thank you. I at least, know the difference between right and wrong, unlike many on this thread apparently.
BUT.......now all Americans are free to speak out against ANY left wing special interest group they want without fear. Do you think homosexuals are dangerous and disturbed? Say so! Say it loud and clear. The court has your back.
Disagree with abortion? Speak out. Again, the court has your back.
Disagree with tax slavery and welfare entitlements? Great! Say so! The world is now YOUR stage.
Political correctness cannot silence you anymore. Political correctness is now moot. The left cannot legally intimidate people any more. It has no power over you. You are now free to protest anyone, at any time, in any way. These rights now apply to everyone, not just the politically correct leftists.
Sure, the Gore activists are vile human beings, but a door has been opened they wish would have remained shut. This opened the minds of ALL Americans to speak up and speak out. They no longer have to fear the left's threats of "hate speech." There is no such thing!
In fact, we can protest the protesters with just as much vile as they use themselves. What can they do about it? Accuse us of "hate speech?"
Alito, eh? Guess I’ll have to keep an eye on him.
This one was a no-brainer, as evidenced by the fact that the other eight (EIGHT!) got it right.
I agree with the ruling, but I wanted to throw that case out there to see how this reconciles with that one. Chaplinsky does seem a bit flimsy to me, and to think it won 9-0. Maybe because there was a war on at the time.
I've always said one thing I love about the First Amendment is that it protects our enemies' right to make themselves known.
I do understand why Alito felt the way he did. These protests are an ATTACK on the families and the soldier, and Alito saw it that way. The problem is, who decides what is passion and what is an attack?
I believe Alito followed his conscience, and I understand that. I agree what these protesters are doing is vile and inhuman, but if the court were to follow Alito, who knows what other speech would be outlawed down the line. If one is outlawed, others will be someday as well.
So verbal harassment, fighting words, stalking, and disturbing the peace are now considered constitutionally protected free speech.
It’s time we apply this concept to the 2A as well. Many gun laws across this nation were written because some people were offended by guns.
Each and every one of them is Unconstitutional and must be overturned.
NRA, what say you?
Alito’s right. The other black robes need to go back to law school.
And the other side of that coin? Thanks to this precedence, none is outlawed, therefore anyone can say and do ANYTHING and it's allowed as constitutionally protected free speech.
You really can't tell the difference between the two?
I can tell the difference between the two
You're missing the point
This, if it had the other way, would allow the government (of the day) the authority to pick and choose who could picket and who couldn't.
It would squash free speech
If you want just your definition of thug squashed (and I think they are thugs too)are you OK with another's definition of thug (oh, let's say a Tea Party rally...) squashed too?
It's a case of all now, or none later. We don't want to open the censorship door because of a handful of inhuman, carbon based entities. Instead, expose the Al Gore leftists for who and what they truly are.
I've seen O'Reilly refer to them as a church, and for the life of me I can't understand why he doesn't explain to the viewers who they really are and where they came from. That would shut them down over night. The left would make sure of it if American voters found out these kooks were theirs!
“...The best thing to do is ignore them.”
No, the best way to deal with them is to have several hundred Patriot Guard Riders show up at military family funerals to PROTECT the family members from the abuse these socialist scumbags spew.
Surround and isolate Phelps and his whackjobs, screen the grieving fmaily members, and exercise OUR right to public displays - and get in their faces at EVERY SINGLE OPPORTUNITY. Our solidarity with our people, and to protect our people, is paramount.
These whackjobs are NOT Christians; they’re socialist assh*les and what they’re doing it designed to bring scorn and derision onto true Christians amongst the general population of folks.
They give the media slimes the required 20 second sound bites so the bubblehead blond Newsette can say “a fundamentalist CHRISTIAN group, today, picketed a military family funeral...” and show the signs they carry. This immediately paints Christians in general as nutjobs and lunatics - much the same way as the accusations of child molesting leveled at truly innocent priests brings discredit and suspicion onto the Catholic Church.
This is a designed, deliberate, evil, and extremely offensive way of further chipping away at the Christian foundation of this country.
One more cut, out of a thousand...
Do you believe that the “speech” and methods used by the Phelps group is absolutely equivalent to that of the Tea Party?
That case was totally over ruled today (8-1) as being an attempt to regulate speech. The problem is :please define”Fighting Words” in such a manner as to guide one to avoid it. It is completely ambiguous and vague . The decisions clarifies that with this bright line decision. — Good law. Say anything you want out of the work place. That is your absolute and unmitigated right as an American.
“Political correctness cannot silence you anymore. Political correctness is now moot.”
That’s what I heard from the ruling! Disturbing the peace be damned!
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