ARCHIVES FROM THE PAST -- Let's not be too hasty protecting Westboro's angry speech

To tidy up some of the scattered orphans that I've sewn throughout the universe of blogs, I'm resettling some of the best of my pithy little missives right here.  ((The ones that I thought stunk. . .. you'll have to search and destroy on yer own)))

Originally Posted by Gene_: in Open Salon OCTOBER 6, 2010 3:36PM

As I read Gary Baumgarten’s blog about protecting offensive speech (((not to mention the nooumerous news stories))) I am struck as to the overwhelming narrative on the need to protect hateful, hurtful expression, and the paucity of thought on the fact that not ALL speech is protected.

It is absolutely correct to protect the dissenting and angry expression, yet that anger and that dissent has to be tested and based on that test society can better discern whether the expressed thought should be protected or whether it presents a “clear and present danger,” thus falls outside of legal protection.There are two areas of unprotected speech that I think might come into play here, one is obscene language, the other is “fighting words.”

ARCHIVES FROM THE PAST -- President Bush. . . The Ranking, The Legacy, The Sadness

To tidy up some of the scattered orphans that I've sewn throughout the universe of blogs, I'm resettling some of the best of my pithy little missives right here.  ((The ones that I thought stunk. . .. you'll have to search and destroy on yer own)))

Originally Posted by Gene_: Saturday, January 20, 2007 12:22:10 AM

Let’s talk legacy.

I know the President flatly states that he doesn’t worry about such things, but be assured, he surely does.

There is one thing that he does not have to worry about though, and that is his spot on the totem pole of the 43 men who have held the office so far.

Sad to say, this President, George W. Bush, will no doubt be ranked near the very bottom of the list.

When you look at the men who, let’s face it, were just plain bad for the country,  most of them could’ve had decent administrations, if not great ones, if it weren’t for usually one or two glaring, horrible confutations with administrative progress.

At the bottom are names like Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, James Buchanan, Lyndon Johnson and most of the mid nineteenth century president’s.

Now, we have George W. Bush.

ARCHIVES FROM THE PAST -- slouching toward the puisne

To tidy up some of the scattered orphans that I've sewn throughout the universe of blogs, I'm resettling some of the best of my pithy little missives right here.  ((The ones that I thought stunk. . .. you'll have to search and destroy on yer own)))

Originally Posted by Gene_: Friday, January 05, 2007 4:46:55 PM

 To play off of the title of an excellent book by Judge Robert Bork, which itself was taken from an excellent poem by Yeats titled The Second Coming,  the conservative movement better start working on civility lest they find themselves in the throes of a death spiral toward insignificance.

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;"

Are conservatives, as a group starting to fracture? Yes. mainly because of massive fusillades on anything not endorsed by the right wing of the political ideal.

Let's take the big issue of the day; How many times have we witnessed a true and proud conservative get mauled for simply expressing his or her view that the Iraq War is a misguided?

William Kristol, Editor of The Weekly Standard, doesn't just disagree with James Bakers Iraq Study Group's findings, he has to heap obloquies at the messengers.

ARCHIVES from the past -- Johnny’s Flying Circus - Starring Sarah Palin or ((Now for Something completely strange))

To tidy up some of the scattered orphans that I've sewn throughout the universe of blogs, I'm resettling some of the best of my pithy little missives right here.  ((The ones that I thought stunk. . .. you'll have to search and destroy on yer own)))

Originally Posted by Gene_: on Saturday, August 30, 2008 10:08:43 AM at Townhall.com

   In one fell swoop, senator McCain has given up ownership to just about every tactic and strategy that the GOP had in their arsenal.

With Sen. McCain’s Pick of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, he has taken away the “experience”argument that would’ve been mildly effective in this time of über uncertainty on so many issues.
   

   Also, by getting not only an inexperienced running mate, but one who’s only experience has been on the small frozen stage of being Mayor in a small town for a brief time before moving on to the barely larger stage of governing a state with a population smaller than some of our large cities, McCain has ceded the talking point to Obama.