Martian:
Bravo! Well put, and 100% correctly so, IMHO.
Most Americans believe that their "Freedom of Speech" applies to any ol' thing they wish to say being allowed. To those people, I can only say this: Try running around screaming,"F*** you, you F***ING F***ERS!" over and over in front of a police officer. See how long they let you go on doing this. More than likely, they'll immediately ask you to stop. When you don't, they will arrest you for indecent behavior, disturbing the peace, or some other offense.
Our freedoms of speech were specifically meant to apply to the actions the government can take should you express opinions that are contrary or in opposition to the State. Meaning that the State can do NOTHING against you. Now, if you screw up & throw some profanity in there, they can censor you. If you use slander, libel, or defamatory language, they can prosecute you...but only for those offenses.
So many of us fail to understand the ramifications of this important right...without it, those Liberals who love to belittle the President now (and those Conservatives who loved to bash Clinton) would find themselves imprisoned, or worse. Find an Iraqi immigrant, or a Saudi immigrant...ask them what would happen if they were to speak out against their government! Ask them what would happen if they were to openly oppose Islam in their countries!
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A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take from you everything you have.
-Gerald R. Ford
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