Moonage Political Webdream

A while back I did a piece on Fred Phelps protesting military funerals. I came to the conclusion then that it was pretty ironic that states were impeding their freedom of speech and no one really cared. What they were doing was truly that despicable. Since that post, several states, including my own, passed laws banning protests at military funerals and still no one really cared. Now, Congress has passed a law banning these protests from federal cemeteries. And, I’ve still not seen any mass protests of our civil rights being eroded, in which they clearly are. What Fred Phelps has managed to do is amazing. He has actually found a way for apparently just about everyone to agree that sometimes our civil rights do need to be checked. For that reason alone, Fred Phelps and his minions have proven that they have truly got to be, without any question, the stupidest collection of people in the entire United States. They have lost their right to freedom of expression and everyone else is OK with that.

Including myself. These people really have nothing to say and therefore have no reason to be heard. It’s just a shame that it takes an act of Congress to shut them up. However, the alternative might have been a bullet, and I don’t think anyone’s OK with that. Our Constitution’s bottom line is we let our laws preserve peace instead of bullets. Even if they truly are better off dead.

May 26, 2006 update - I am going to run the very real risk of plagiarizing a lawyer. Only because it is the PERFECT answer to what is going on and why it can go on. Here’s Eugene Volokh’s take on the legislation:

Because restricting noncommercial conduct around all funerals would be pretty clearly outside Congress’s enumerated powers (even setting aside the First Amendment constraints on those powers). Even as to this law, there’s some question whether Congress has the enumerated power to restrict noncommercial conduct on state-run streets outside federal cemeteries; but at least there Congress has a plausible case that such restrictions are necessary and proper to protecting activities that take place on federal property. (As to restrictions on picketing around military funerals, there’s also a somewhat more far-fetched case that such restrictions are necessary and proper to helping raise armies.) But a restriction on all funeral picketing, with no connection to federal activities, would be pretty clearly unconstitutional.

Now, the reason I say it’s the perfect answer is because it makes perfect sense to me.

Technorati Tags: fred-phelps, god-hates-fags, Opinions, thank-god-for-dead-soldiers, westboro

Tags: fred-phelps, god-hates-fags, Opinions, thank-god-for-dead-soldiers, westboro

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