[Vision2020] House bill 1168

[Paul Rumelhart]

Sunil Ramalingam wrote:

>I think they have the right to protest, and I think this bill may infringe 
>on their First Amendment rights.  I think they have the same right to this 
>speech as  the Aryan Nation does to march through C d'A.  I think they can 
>burn a flag while they protest if that's what they want to do.  I don't 
>think it wins any converts to their cause, but they can do it.
>
>Because it doesn't BAN speech but moves it a distance away from the event 
>being protested, maybe the courts will rule it's not an infringement on the 
>First Amendment.  The right to speech isn't being taken away, the argument 
>would go, they're being made to speak elsewhere.  I don't know how this will 
>play out.
>  
>

I don't like this trend to segregate free speech into zones or to move 
it away from designated places.  It's not much different from the "Free 
Speech Zones" that they provided for the presidential debates.

These people have the right to say their piece in public places.  They 
have the right to look like inconsiderate boobs at the same time, which 
they also seem to be exercising. 

If there's one thing I've learned because of recent events in the last 
few years, it is that freedoms like this can't be compromised, no matter 
how good the reasons might seem at the time.

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.  It's easy to get enraged 
at people like this and to start a trend that the people of this country 
will regret down the road.  Leave freedom of speech alone.  It's more 
important than any one particular example.

Just my opinion.

Paul