The President of the United States and his minions in the White House are “looking” at limiting the First Amendment rights of Americans. Amazing as that statement sounds, that is exactly what White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus said on a Sunday show when asked if Trump wants to the ability to “sue” the New York Times for its reporting.
“This is something that is being looked at,” Priebus eventually said when asked, although not directly, if suppressing the First Amendment right of The New York Times is on the horizon.
Olbermann took issues with this apparent White House stance and broke down the Constitution and the First Amendment to the so-called president.
Christ was betrayed, mocked, made fun of, even crucified. But never once did he criticize the people for doing thise things to him, and he certainly did not grab the closest NRA approved semi-automatic weapon to seek vengeance in his own name.
So yes, I was more than a little shocked and confused when the Pope apparently sided with the Islamic extremist terrorists who murdered 12 people at Charlie Hebdo for expressing their freedom of speech. It is the Pope’s opinion that freedom of speech does not apply to religion.
Francis spoke about the Paris terror attacks while en route to the Philippines, defending free speech as not only a fundamental human right but a duty to speak one’s mind for the sake of the common good.
But he said there were limits.
By way of example, he referred to Alberto Gasparri, who organizes papal trips and was standing by his side aboard the papal plane.
“If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch,” Francis said, throwing a pretend punch his way. “It’s normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.”
Many people around the world have defended the right of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to publish inflammatory cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in the wake of the massacre by Islamic extremists at its Paris offices and subsequent attack on a kosher supermarket in which three gunmen killed 17 people.
But recently the Vatican and four prominent French imams issued a joint declaration that denounced the attacks but also urged the media to treat religions with respect.
I call him greedy because now that the Supreme Court has decided that anyone with enough money can give any amount they want to a particular campaign, Boehner is seeing dollar signs.
With that decision, the Supreme Court doubled down on their Citizens United decision, where they proclaimed Corporations – you know, those flesh and blood entities built by actual human beings that need to be registered to do business – the Supreme Court in their Citizens United decision called those entities “people,” and thus, able to contribute unlimited amounts of dollars to any SuperPAC that supports their candidate.
Today, the Court took another step in their Conservative activism, their continuous effort to silent democracy and the voice of the people. Today, the Supreme Court took us one dtep closer to turning our democracy into an oligarchy.
Their 5-4 decision will allow anyone to give an unlimited amount of cash to anyone running for office, because, according to the decision, restricting the amount given would be the same as restricting freedom of speech.
So not only have they redefined “people” with Citizens United, this Republican led Court effectively redefined speech to mean money. And the more money you have, the louder your voice becomes. And if you can shout louder than everyone else, then your voice becomes the voice the politicians listen to and your priorities magically becomes theirs… because… money!
But don’t just take my word, listen to the politicians as they praise the fall of democracy. John Boehner praised the decision, claiming that “freedom of speech is being upheld.”
“What I think this means is that freedom of speech is being upheld. You all have the freedom to write what you want to write. Donors ought to have the freedom to give what they want to give.”
And the people who will receive these gifts of course, are politicians. Especially those in leadership positions like John Boehner – Speaker of the House of Representatives. Imagine being rich enough to buy the Speaker of the House! Imagine how much shouting your money can do then!
It’s a case that started in the lower courts which awarded the plaintiff, Albert Snyder, a substantial award for his pain and suffering. Later, the ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court after it decided that the case of Snyder vs. The Westboro Baptiste Church, did not break any laws.
Mr. Snyder brought the case against the 50 member ‘church’ because, according to the complainant, the members showed up at the funeral of his son Lance Cpl. Mathew A. Snyder, who was killed in the Iraqi war. Snyder accused the church of “intentionally inflicting emotional stress,” because, as was the case in several other such funerals, the church showed up with protest signs that read, “God hate fags” and “America is doomed.” The Supreme Court applied the First Amendment as its reasoning behind siding with the “church.” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote;
“Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain.”
In addition to free speech, Justice Roberts suggests three more reasons why the church was within its rights to protest.
Their protest was within the public’s interest. The Justice suggests that although the signs may have been inappropriate, “the issues they highlight — the political and moral conduct of the United States and its citizens, the fate of our nation, homosexuality in the military and scandals involving the Catholic clergy — are matters of public import.”
The Justice wrote that the relationship between the church and the plaintiff was not one of a private grudge, and
The church had a right to be where they were and were not breaking any state laws to hold the protest.
The Westboro Church is not new to controversies. They also protested at the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate John Edwards. Mrs. Edwards died of breast cancer in 2010, and had her funeral protested by Westboro group, who carried signs thanking God for her breast cancer. They also protested when congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in her head in January, where six people, including a nine year old girl was killed. Westboro thanked God for sending the gunman.
Although the ruling by the Supreme Court is understandable, it is groups like the Westboro Baptiste church, in my humble opinion, that makes it necessary to add a clause to the Constitution that would exercise some restraint in the use of the amendment when it comes to such cases. For example, so-called church groups that protest the funeral of a soldier who died in the line of duty while defending their democratic right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, should not be protected under the first amendment.
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