Arrested for wearing a T-shirt
It's been bugging me a while and I had to just get some thoughts down on...
I'm wondering why the people charged with protecting our Constitution don't seem to agree with it or even do much to protect it when they don't agree with those who are doing the talking.
We've all heard about the people that are denied access to Presidential campaign speeches because they're not one of the faithful, that that's shameful enough. But, when people get arrested for the t-shirt that they are wearing, haven't we crossed some sort of line that leads us away from "free speech" towards "totalitarian regime"?
Cindy Sheehan gets arrested for wearing a t-shirt that has printed on it the number of US soldiers dead in Iraq to the State of the Union address. While I could see her being escorted from the building if she was also making a scene about it, arresting her for wearing a t-shirt seems a bit totalitarian to me. What part of free speech and petitioning the government for a redress of grievances don't they get? I mean, come on, it's the #1 Amendment to Constitution (see billofrights.org for a refresher course, if you need one). Did they not even bother to read it half way?
Of course all charges were subsequently dropped, but they never should have been filed in the first place! The government is supposed to work for us, not against us. It has unlimited funds and time, and the average innocent citizen just can't stand up against that sort of power.
I also wonder about this guy arrested for wearing a "Give Peace a Chance" t-shirt at the mall that sold it to him. I don't know where that stands legally, but it does make me think that people need to lighten up a bit.
Remember, free speech means letting someone shout at the top of their lungs ideas that you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. It doesn't mean that you get to throw those people that you don't agree with in jail.
I'm wondering why the people charged with protecting our Constitution don't seem to agree with it or even do much to protect it when they don't agree with those who are doing the talking.
We've all heard about the people that are denied access to Presidential campaign speeches because they're not one of the faithful, that that's shameful enough. But, when people get arrested for the t-shirt that they are wearing, haven't we crossed some sort of line that leads us away from "free speech" towards "totalitarian regime"?
Cindy Sheehan gets arrested for wearing a t-shirt that has printed on it the number of US soldiers dead in Iraq to the State of the Union address. While I could see her being escorted from the building if she was also making a scene about it, arresting her for wearing a t-shirt seems a bit totalitarian to me. What part of free speech and petitioning the government for a redress of grievances don't they get? I mean, come on, it's the #1 Amendment to Constitution (see billofrights.org for a refresher course, if you need one). Did they not even bother to read it half way?
Of course all charges were subsequently dropped, but they never should have been filed in the first place! The government is supposed to work for us, not against us. It has unlimited funds and time, and the average innocent citizen just can't stand up against that sort of power.
I also wonder about this guy arrested for wearing a "Give Peace a Chance" t-shirt at the mall that sold it to him. I don't know where that stands legally, but it does make me think that people need to lighten up a bit.
Remember, free speech means letting someone shout at the top of their lungs ideas that you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. It doesn't mean that you get to throw those people that you don't agree with in jail.
posted by Mark at 3:56 PM
1 Comments:
The regime in power doesn't really know what terms like "freedom of speech" mean. They seem to have about an eighth-grade understanding of history and civics. What "freedom" means to them is "product of American war efforts."
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