Freedom of Speech ~04-27-03

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantee's all Americans freedom of speech. In the Two Hundred plus years since the Constitution was ratified, the Supreme Court has placed a few minor restrictions on this right. Specifically that you can't yell Fire in a Crowded theater, Speech that leads directly to violence is prohibited. You can advocate the overthrow of the Government, but you can't advocate the VIOLENT overthrow of the Government.

As an American citizen, you have the right to disagree with anything said by any Politician or Elected Official. You have the right to publicly protest any government action or war. As an American citizen you have the right to get on stage in London and say "You are ashamed that the President is from Texas." As an American citizen you have the right to take all your clothes off and pose for Entertainment Weekly with words superimposed all over your body. In Other words as an American Citizen you have the RIGHT to make a complete idiot of yourself. The First Amendment guarantee's you the right to Free Speech, what it does not guarantee you is the right to be heard or that their will be no repercussions for your idiocy.

Natalie Mains, Barbara Streisand and all the other "Stars" have the right to publicly express their disdain for our President, the war in Iraq, the war against Terrorism and Tax cuts. We, as American Citizens, also have the right to NOT buy their products. We have the right to express our disdain for their public idiocy by not buying their CD's, not going to their movies, not watching their Television programs. This is not a violation of their right to Free Speech, it is, instead, an exercise of our right to Free Speech. We are not Censoring them, instead we are choosing to ignore them.

These "Stars" are correct in one way, our rights to Free Speech are under assault. But not from the public refusal to accept their inane prattlings, instead, from the wave of Political Correctness that has been seeking to control our thoughts for the last ten years. Senator Santorum is under assault for saying "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything," a Statement that is absolutely correct. If Society does not have the right to ban "Deviate" sex practices because it violates the "Right to Privacy" then anything you choose to do in "Privacy" of your bedroom is fair game, including all the things Senator Santorum mentioned and Drug Use, violence, pornography or any other vice you can think of. All You have to do is Lock your door and it would be legal. Think about it for a minute. Would this not "legalize" Kiddie Porn as long as you only used it in the PRIVACY of your own home?

The other assault against our free speech is the "Campaign Finance Reform" law, passed last year by the Congress. It prohibits us from running ads against a Political candidate 30 days before an election. This law is a clear violation of the first amendment.

God Bless America
Bill Hocutt