Muslim 11 Free Speech?
Free speech shouldn’t go to the loudest bully.
I read with interest the trial that involved the Muslim 11 who shouted down the Israeli Ambassador who attempted to give a speech at the University of California Irvine, in February 2010. After a relatively short trial, 10 of the 11 were sentenced to misdemeanor charges. The Muslim 11 have claimed they were unjustly charged based on racism. Oh really? Is that the way free speech works? Does free speech permit a person who is legally assembled to talk, be shouted down to the point where the speech is completely disrupted? Does the free speech go to the loudest screamer, or the one with the biggest bullhorn? Sorry Muslim 11. You’re wrong. Just as any Tea Party person who attempts to shout down a liberal speaker, you’re wrong to think your screaming to the point of obvious disruption, is protected by the first amendment. Did you forget that free speech works both ways? Did you consider that your free speech could have occurred one-meeting-hall-quad down the campus? You could have “free-speeched” yourself to anyone willing to listen. In this country, you’re free to praise and demonize whomever you want, you could have made it a Muslim, Million Man March, but you do not have the right to prevent another free speech from occurring…Period!
In a civil democracy, if we allowed that to occur, the inbreds in the Tea Party I despise, could scream down my liberal heroes because frankly the inbreds could start buying bullhorns and set up full, PA systems and hire Montgomery Gentry to play opposite the speech. That ain’t gonna happen. That would be like screaming nuclear holocaust in a United Artists Super 21.
I believe in free speech. That includes Neo Nazis, Atheists, Pro-Lifers, Pro-Choice, and Dykes on Bikes. I believe Tea Party radicals can blame Obama for everything that Wall Street did and air it on Fox News every night. You see, free speech also includes the right to “Not Have To Listen!” It’s really simple. I have a right to watch Al Jazeera, which on my TV, is nine channels down.
Were You Singled Out?
Spare me. If you were, you should have been. You were wrong! Take your swats like men! If you’re gonna be metaphorical martyrs on this issue, it’s that all bullies should receive misdemeanor felony charges for violating someone else’s free speech. Congratulations, you’re all pioneers. I now got my target on Tea Party pious people in Peoria!
Muslim 11 Trial by Kelly Bowlin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
