I would call Fred Phelps a vile snake, but that comparison would be an utterly unjustifiable insult to snakes. If there has to be an animal reference, would it do to call Phelps an ass?
Why funerals? You'd expect disruption of, say, gay weddings. But the simple reason is that most funerals are outdoors, where there is a greater presumption of a right to speak.
One deceased gay friend of mine was buried in a crypt in a wall of a very old Episcopal church downtown. There were no protests of his funeral, mainly because there is no legal basis for invading and disrupting an indoor church service, unless the bastards want to be carted off to jail.
I still have my doubts about that particular court ruling, and I think my record on free-speech issues speaks for itself. A lot of things simply aren't really speech: corporate political spending is one; raucous disruption of funerals is another.
(FIVE tours in Afghanistan? It's amazing the fellow didn't come home in a box much earlier. Damned shame he didn't make it this time. Damned shame any Americans soldier ever has to go to Afghanistan, IMHO. But... FIVE tours?)
3 comments:
I would call Fred Phelps a vile snake, but that comparison would be an utterly unjustifiable insult to snakes. If there has to be an animal reference, would it do to call Phelps an ass?
Why funerals? You'd expect disruption of, say, gay weddings. But the simple reason is that most funerals are outdoors, where there is a greater presumption of a right to speak.
One deceased gay friend of mine was buried in a crypt in a wall of a very old Episcopal church downtown. There were no protests of his funeral, mainly because there is no legal basis for invading and disrupting an indoor church service, unless the bastards want to be carted off to jail.
I still have my doubts about that particular court ruling, and I think my record on free-speech issues speaks for itself. A lot of things simply aren't really speech: corporate political spending is one; raucous disruption of funerals is another.
(FIVE tours in Afghanistan? It's amazing the fellow didn't come home in a box much earlier. Damned shame he didn't make it this time. Damned shame any Americans soldier ever has to go to Afghanistan, IMHO. But... FIVE tours?)
... any Americans => American soldier...
I can't imagine the hatred that binds that weird weird family together.
And five tours is obscene.
Post a Comment