Holt McCallany and Adam Carolla
This was one of the cooler things I witnessed on the show, even if, as you can see from the photo, I was arcing away from the action so as to not catch a stray punch to the head. I’m somewhat accident prone but I see it more as accidents seeking me out as opposed to the other way around.
In other news, I feel I didn’t give a thorough enough breakdown of the Westboro first amendment decision on Thursday’s show. I agree with the Supreme Court ruling even if it’s odious. The whole point of the first amendment is to protect unpopular or endangered speech. It’s great that we’ve come so far that hate-filled bullshit like that of Westboro is now unpopular but it wasn’t too long ago that civil rights protests were unpopular. It would be nice to only protect the speech you agree with, but whose sensibilities would we be putting above all the others?
On the show I said the decision had to do with public versus private space, which it does in that the protesters have to be on public land and have to keep a specific distance from the funerals but moreover it has to do with public versus private interest. Unfortunately it was determined that Westboro’s vitriol involves matters of public interest: the role of the US government and military and its actions abroad, homosexuality in the military, religion, which is the kind of speech protected by the first amendment.
Below is the first amendment. The funny thing is realizing from day one it was put in place to make sure irritating nutjobs will forever be allowed to yammer on about religion:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The nice thing about free speech is that it makes it easier to determine who the a**h*les are because they’ll let you know themselves.
so true!
Alison, love you on the show you do a great job and you keep Adam in check. Any word on what happened with Dave’s of Thunder and why they were kicked off the air? Dameshek asserts it wasn’t there decision but Lynette Carolla recently tweeted that Dameshek isn’t being forthcoming. Any insight?
You’re right Alison. It might be a good idea to use the Westboro Baptist Church as a hillbilly Litmus test to reflect on what Freedom of Speech really means
BTW: See if you can work your magic and get Joey Diaz (@madflavor) on the podcast. He would be the best guest of all time.
No law? I am not free to yell fire in a crowded theater so there are limits on free speech. With regards to the second amendment I am not free to own any type of gun I want. With the fourth amendment there are warrantless entry exceptions in place. It goes on for each amendment in the Bill or Rights. Every amendment has common-sense limits placed upon it. I know – anything we do is a “slippery slope” – if we stop the Wesbastards from protesting military funerals it sets a precedent for any speech… that is akin to saying a ruling in favor of gay marriage will lead to legalizing polygamy or people marrying animals. We should be capable of common sense exceptions to amendments, but with an 8-1 ruling obviously I’m on the wrong side of this argument.
I wonder why the Westbastards choose military funerals and not black churches to protest, or mosques, or actual gay bars… because they know they’d get beaten and anally raped – sans lube.
Like yelling fire in a crowded theater, this is a decision that is going to get people hurt. I believe reasonable people were restrained with the Westbastards because they believed the law would take care of it – but it didn’t. With this ruling the Westbastards are talking about multiplying their efforts and I believe they will soon get the ass-kicking reception they deserve. When they do good luck finding a jury willing to place the ass whoopers behind bars.
Not just about religion, of course, but also being rude to cats on podcasts. 😉
Thanks for another reminder of the brilliance of America
I don’t understand why people keep making (bad) examples out of yelling fire in a theater. Of course it is well and good to yell fire in a crowded theater *when there’s an actual fire in the theater*!
I did not laugh at all reading this. What the?
There’s a documentary about the WBC named “The Most Hated Family in America.”
Worth watching, at least for someone like me, who can watch it relatively dispassionately. If you let them get to you, it may get hard to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOrz5k0jWdU
The nice thing about free speech is that it makes it easier to determine who the a**h*les are because they'll let you know themselves.
so true!
Alison, love you on the show you do a great job and you keep Adam in check. Any word on what happened with Dave's of Thunder and why they were kicked off the air? Dameshek asserts it wasn't there decision but Lynette Carolla recently tweeted that Dameshek isn't being forthcoming. Any insight?
No law? I am not free to yell fire in a crowded theater so there are limits on free speech. With regards to the second amendment I am not free to own any type of gun I want. With the fourth amendment there are warrantless entry exceptions in place. It goes on for each amendment in the Bill or Rights. Every amendment has common-sense limits placed upon it. I know – anything we do is a “slippery slope” – if we stop the Wesbastards from protesting military funerals it sets a precedent for any speech… that is akin to saying a ruling in favor of gay marriage will lead to legalizing polygamy or people marrying animals. We should be capable of common sense exceptions to amendments, but with an 8-1 ruling obviously I'm on the wrong side of this argument.
I wonder why the Westbastards choose military funerals and not black churches to protest, or mosques, or actual gay bars… because they know they'd get beaten and anally raped – sans lube.
Like yelling fire in a crowded theater, this is a decision that is going to get people hurt. I believe reasonable people were restrained with the Westbastards because they believed the law would take care of it – but it didn't. With this ruling the Westbastards are talking about multiplying their efforts and I believe they will soon get the ass-kicking reception they deserve. When they do good luck finding a jury willing to place the ass whoopers behind bars.
Not just about religion, of course, but also being rude to cats on podcasts. 😉
Thanks for another reminder of the brilliance of America
I don't understand why people keep making (bad) examples out of yelling fire in a theater. Of course it is well and good to yell fire in a crowded theater *when there's an actual fire in the theater*!
You just had to go here, didn’t you.. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just more evidence of a world gone mad. I don’t see how the 1st Amendment could be any clearer: “Congress shall make no law…”
The Amendment protects you, I and the Westboro nuts from the government, and that’s it. It in no way sets forth laws governing free speech among the citizens. Everything else that has been lumped onto it, whether by case law or otherwise has been based in pure fantasy.
The founders were brilliant, it’s true, because they knew to stay out of it. If we want to enact separate laws to deal with these societal issues and protect minority groups from harm, fine, but it is not the first amendment.
In my opinion, the only people who dealt with this matter properly were the original jurors, but not because they found in favor of the complainant. Because they addressed the issue, which was whether or not there was enough grounds to consider the actions of the church as harassment deserving of damages.
All the other discussion of so-called “protected speech” is utter nonsense. The 1st Amendment should not have applied, and the Justices should be seen as overstepping their place to consider it from that stand point. And we see the results of sticking their noses where they didn’t belong. In announcing a favoritism toward the church, they dealt yet another blow against individual human dignity, and an insult to the juror system.
You just had to go here, didn't you.. As far as I'm concerned, it's just more evidence of a world gone mad. I don't see how the 1st Amendment could be any clearer: “Congress shall make no law…”
The Amendment protects you, I and the Westboro nuts from the government, and that's it. It in no way sets forth laws governing free speech among the citizens. Everything else that has been lumped onto it, whether by case law or otherwise has been based in pure fantasy.
The founders were brilliant, it's true, because they knew to stay out of it. If we want to enact separate laws to deal with these societal issues and protect minority groups from harm, fine, but it is not the first amendment.
In my opinion, the only people who dealt with this matter properly were the original jurors, but not because they found in favor of the complainant. Because they addressed the issue, which was whether or not there was enough grounds to consider the actions of the church as harassment deserving of damages.
All the other discussion of so-called “protected speech” is utter nonsense. The 1st Amendment should not have applied, and the Justices should be seen as overstepping their place to consider it from that stand point. And we see the results of sticking their noses where they didn't belong. In announcing a favoritism toward the church, they dealt yet another blow against individual human dignity, and an insult to the juror system.
I agree they have the right to do this, but I think another group should unfurl a large black screen in front of them and another group should walk pit bulls behind them and release white mice like the guy in Philadelphia.
Tom in NC
I agree they have the right to do this, but I think another group should unfurl a large black screen in front of them and another group should walk pit bulls behind them and release white mice like the guy in Philadelphia.
Tom in NC
I think we have the answer here. The Westboro folks must BOX and WIN to have the right to protest before each event.
I think we have the answer here. The Westboro folks must BOX and WIN to have the right to protest before each event.