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Originally Posted by Martian
Where does this woman getting off saying her freedom has been violated?
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well, because technically it has.
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Originally Posted by merriam-webster
Main Entry: freeˇdom
Pronunciation: 'frE-d&m
Function: noun
1 : the quality or state of being free: as a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
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but really, that's not the point. our freedoms are regularly constrained by the old social contract, etc.
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pigglet - What does the first amendment have to do with any of this? Aside from the fact that the vast majority of the world survives without it, the first amendment was absolutely upheld here. This is a point that often gets lost when discussing constitutional rights - while the first amendment gives American citizens the right to express themselves freely, it does not absolve them from any potential consequences of that free expression. It protects you from the state or the union, but not from private companies.
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I brought it up because it had been mentioned in previous posts, and I find in general that people seem to have a sense these days of standing up for our rights in cases where its a moot point, but not wanting to defend the extreme cases where it actually matters. Does this case matter? Hell no. I consider the actual situation to be trivial. A pox on this woman, and fie on her to boot. But I don't like the precedent of
de facto censorship over something I see as so completely juvenile. as for the first amendment, well, i'd have to say it
does absolve one of
some potential consequences of that free expression, otherwise it's absolutely meaningless. I mean, it's not free if you can say whatever you want, then I can bash your head in with a rock. In my opinion, the first amendment should not protect you from being ridiculed by others if you say something stupid. For instance, I can be saying saying something absolutely asinine right now as far as you're concerned, and you can post back and say "pigglet, you steaming pile of rhino feces. would that your mother had sewn her labia together such that ye were never born..." and that's fine. i think that kicking someone off a plane, which I consider public transportation, is taking it too far for such a little thing. in my opinion, you allow this kind of crap to slide, then the next thing is that someone
is censored for something more *serious*, and the person just says "well, they offended me" and so yes, I kicked them off the plane in the middle of nowhere. That's not to say I'm not sympathetic to the flight attendant/pilot's position, but I think that after reasonable efforts to get this ass to behave, you eventually let this one slide. choose your battles, etc. or else announce over the microphone that people may want to avoid the idiot in seat 3A who is wearing the incendiary shirt. there are lots of ways to more cleverly handle this situation, in my opinion.
but its just my opinion of what i would prefer. i'm no harriet miers of constitutional law.