There’s a lively controversy in Uptown New Orleans over ananti-Obama signsome right wing malaka has put up at his house. The local news led with a false dichotomy last night: is this offensive or free speech? It’s both: there’s a lot of stuff that offends me but I don’t call for it to be banned unless it involves the mythical guy yelling fire in a crowded theatre.
It’s not easy being aHugo Black-style First Amendment absolutist nowadays but that’s what I am. There’s lots of annoying shit out there but if we want to remain a semi-free country we just gotta roll with the punches.
Okey doke, here’s the tacky signage posted by an idiot on private property. Let’s call it stupid but protected speech:
and in David vitter’s state, no less. I agree about society or government censorship but I do think uncouth lowlife rich folk who have money for billboards like this should have some self-censorship. Personal Responsibility. The rest of us in civil society should shun them publicly; their names should be known and broadcast far and wide.
Pretty funny when you consider their side has an living, whinning, sold-out, hypocritical, diaper-wearing Christian Whore Monger.
Jus’sayin…
Hmmm…protected free speech, yes, but pretty close to zero on originality or creativity.
Wonder where he got the David Vitter picture that he photoshopped Obama’s head onto…
And I think the Soros caricature (slide show at the link) speaks volumes.
Funny. While I respect this person’s right to be stupid, I remember what happened in my corner of the world, when, during the Bush years, someone put up a mannequin dressed as a soldier on the front of his house, with a sign saying “Bush lied…I died!”
The Repub-o-nuts out here went into full frenzy, held demonstrations in front of this guy’s house (“Why do you hate America?”), and did everything in their power to try to shut him down…even took the guy to court, if I remember correctly…
So, yeah. I respect the right to free speech of the numbnut mentioned above. But it would be nice if Numbnuts and his ilk would realize that “freedom of speech” doesn’t mean that ONLY right-wing speech is free…
Freedom to be a dick. It’s in one of those Constitutional clauses somewhere.
Oh, yeh, and MichaelF is spot on.
In New Orleans: Diaper = Vitter. It’s automatic.
Only place I may split with you is that in the 1700s it was hard to speak anonymously. Now, it is so simple to build an anonymous identity and blast messages around the internet. The fact that we run into so many people’s speech can weaken the power of speech and also remove the responsibility from the speaker.
The sign probably didn’t stay there very long and the neighbors all know whose yard it was in. It looks like it was mounted on a 4′ X 8′ piece of plywood, affixed to 4″ X 4″ posts in a back yard, by the looks of the fence. The rooftop in the background looks like a house, and the sign was probably placed on the property line close to a perimeter street, so all the neighbors could see it. Most towns have sign ordinances which would prohibit such a display, regardless of content. It’s easy (and a little satisfying) to imagine the indignation of the sign’s owner when forced to remove it under the conditions of his town’s ordinances, or even better, the bylaws of his/her Homeowner’s Association.