House of Eratosthenes

The First Amendment protects freedom of speech but it cannot insulate folks against the social and cultural repercussions that come from saying something offensive.

I’m pulling that one gem out…some would say, unfairly…from a treatise whose subject and title are “Ted Nugent Should Be In Jail.” I don’t agree with the conclusion, or how he got there, but the author had me accepting his argument as at least a reasonable one right up until I got to that sentence. In fact, if anything, my picking the one sentence out of its context makes it look less glaring, since a casual reader might be forgiven for taking the phrase “social and cultural repercussions” at face value. Which would make it a much more reasonable thing to say. But the idea is JAIL. The whole column is all about how Ted Nugent should be in JAIL.

“The First Amendment protects freedom of speech but you should still be jailed for saying something offensive.” That illustrates the problem; the word “but” is being abused. You don’t get to say “up but down.” But to make the transgression more evident, I had to change it. Did I change it unfairly? Eh…I don’t think so. RTWT, as they say.

If I’ve misunderstood something, then clearly apologies would have to be in order. But if that is the case, it poses a problem: It would illustrate the ease with which things can be misunderstood. In fact, it’s not too much of an exaggeration to suppose that pretty much everything, with a little bit of intellectual torture, can be reinterpreted convincingly as pretty much everything else.

Are you threatening to do something illegal against someone, perhaps plan their murder, when you say “I’ll either be dead or in jail by this time next year”? I can certainly see the thought pattern. If I have a daughter, and I tell you “Marry her and I’ll be dead or in jail by this time next year,” my meaning is pretty clear. It’s not as clear when we’re talking about a sitting President, rumored by His opposition to be aspiring toward becoming the next American Caesar. Among the many legitimate complaints made against His Eminence is the one that, for a professor of constitutional law, He doesn’t seem to know or care much about the Constitution. So, yes, I do think it is appropriate for the Secret Service to check this out, but no, I cannot say a threat against the President’s life is the only reasonable interpretation to be made of Mr. Nugent’s remarks.

Hey, come to think of it, what ever happened to the people who made the move about George W. Bush getting assassinated? You remember, back when Bush was still President. Where’d that go?

His whole article flies around and never really stays on subject.

He seems to insinuate that “social and cultural repercussions” and jail are one and the same.

I guess the standard for wining a Gay & Lesbian journalist award and writing for ESPN are pretty low.

Does Uncle Ted threaten the One? I dunn’o. Better yet, I don’t give a rats ass. Yeah, yeah, you can’t use past bad behavior to excuse more of the same…gotch’a. But I’m just sick and tired of our side taking the high road, being on the losing side of this type of crap. It isn’t working out for us. Case in point – look at our damn country.

And not just the economy or the more blatant examples. I’m talking the “little” things, people treating each other like crap, lake of simple courteousness, etc. Fill in the rest.

What percentage of you fellow citizens of this once great nation do you think you would actually like if given the chance? 5, 10%? What? It should be closer to the opposite – 90%. But we’ve gotten to where we are now by us taking the moral high road. Yippy.

Great, I’m, a decent person doing all the right things, blah, blah…where’s that getting me? Better yet, where’s it getting us? On the road to socialism and ruin.

And it’s not just Barry, it’s the folks who would vote for such an asshole. AND, most importantly, continue to support him when faced (though I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt they’re paying attention but that‘s my point also) with what we have – high unemployment, staggering deficit/debt, and all the rest…What exactly would it take for those dipshits do realize we’re in deep doo doo? I really don’t want to find out.

Fight fire with fire is where I’m starting to come around to thinking. It’s like fighting terrorists, how’s playing nice, nice working out for us? Screw it, carpet bomb it like Dresden. We can clean it up and rebuild it and be left with some decent neighbors later on.

The road I cruise is a bitch now, baby
But no, you can’t turn me round
And if a house gets in my way, baby
Ya know I’ll burn it down

You ran the night that you left me
You put me in my place
I got you in a stranglehold, baby
You better trust your fate
- tim | 04/20/2012 @ 06:25
Z. Granderson –

Where is your outrage over the NBPP and their open death threats?

The elderly couple beaten to death nearby?

The kid burned by two Yutes?

Yeah, thought so you fraud. People like Granderson seem to want a race war.
- Robohobo | 04/20/2012 @ 20:11
So then, the first amendment protects you right to free speech from what, exactly?

Social reprocussions are things like shunning, edicts of disdain … that sort of thing. Jail is explicitly in the realm of Government and the power it is granted.

Since the Bill of rights was written to protect people from government abuse … yes, to limit government … the first amendment is meaningless if it does not protect you from government action as a result of expressing an opinion.

For instance, I am tempted to say that anyone who says that the first amendment doesn’t mean what it clearly says should be put in jail. But I don’t say shit like that. Because I don’t believe it.

THEY, on the other hand… do.

Which is why we don’t want them in power.
- philmon | 04/24/2012 @ 12:43

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Recent

Items of Interest

Monthly Archives

What They Say

Links

“Something Offensive”Friday, April 20th, 2012

“Something Offensive”
Friday, April 20th, 2012