Monday, December 23, 2013

First Amendment Applies to Everyone (even those whose opinions you disagree with or don't like)




The Phil Guy


“I may disagree with all my heart what you’re saying, but I will fight for the death to allow you to say it.”  (surely misquoted by some important politician from way way back)

A lot has been written over the past few days on the Phil Robertson story.  Here’s my take:

In the 1970’s my mom became a big fan of John Denver.  She bought his albums and we went to see him in concert (opening band was the “Starland Vocal Band” whose only big hit was the song “Afternoon Delight”).  We listened to his albums all the time and really enjoyed the fact that he was clean-cut and sung songs about Faith, Family and Friends.  One of my favorite songs of his was the song “Matthew” (go figure) where he talks about a farm-hand friend who found the “Family Bible” after a tornado.  After buying his albums and going to see him in concert, though, my mom read an interview with him where he mentioned that he wasn’t a Christian and she was taken aback by this news.  Seems she had bought into the image that John Denver had created through his songs and persona (who cares about the fact that his real name was Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. and he would later be convicted of hoarding gasoline, plus I think he was a bit of a pot-head).


The Decapitated Heads of the Starland Vocal Band (maybe that's why they never had another hit)


 This revelation that John Denver wasn’t what he was cracked up to be meant that we didn’t listen to John Denver for awhile.  I think my mother may have even written him a letter.  We were a good Christian household and being duped by this popular folk singer made us step back a bit.  Were we supporting a fake-named pot-head non-Christian by buying his music and seeing him in concert?  It was a while before strains of “Annie’s Song” and “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” and my favorite song “Matthew” were playing from our record player.  But, still, the “faith” parts of the songs felt a little more hollow after that...


Folksy!


 Years later Miriam and I used to watch “Tool Time” with Tim Allen.  A funny sitcom we thoroughly enjoyed.  Tim Allen was great in it and we knew he had a past where he was a stand-up comedian, but didn’t know much about it.  (Also knew he was convicted of selling drugs, spent time in prison, had issues...)  One night we ran across him doing stand-up and found his routine to be pretty filled with foul language and, once again, we felt a bit duped by the image he portrayed as a clean-cut father who gets into trouble, and the one he portrayed on stage telling off-color jokes.  (side note:  His real name is:  Timothy Alan Dick)


Not that folksy...


 And, finally, I remember when my BFF Jason handed me a videotape (or DVD) going off on the misogyny and gross-ness of Professional Wrestling.  It was 90 minutes of just the most guttural slime of professional wrestling.  Knowing that I was a fan of the WWE, Jason thought I would be interested and so I took a look at the documentary and it was, in fact, pretty damning to the organization.  I felt a little sick afterward...then I remembered that the show is fake and it’s, basically, a soap opera.  So if you’re going to take the WWE to task for their weekly fake violence, you need to take to task all the stupid-ass soap operas and police procedural shows, etc.  And, besides, I never actually bought WWE merchandise or anything (though I DID go to a WWE show after they had cleaned up their act).  I may have watched it but, you know, I didn’t really monetarily SUPPORT it.


WRASSLIN!  (otherwise known as a male soap opera)


 When the Phil Robertson story broke in December 2013 – it was interesting to see how the actions of his employer (A&E Network) to suspend him from the show caused a huge uproar in the cyber-universe.  Suddenly people were taking sides.  Bloggers were blogging.  Facebookers were Facebooking.  “A&E is committing suicide!”  Read one headline.  “First Amendment being damned!”  Said another.  “He did nothing wrong!”  And on and on and on and on and on...  Who cares that there are hungry and hurting in our streets.  Soldiers are dying in a war half a world away.  U.S. drones accidentally killed 13 members of a wedding party.  NSA continues to spy, un-checked on the American people.  A reality TV star has been SUSPENDED for words in a magazine interview!  That takes precedence over other headlines.


Little known fact:  Actually stands for "Apples & Edamame"


 But...there are two issues I see going on here.  Issue one is the suspension of a television personality.  Issue two is the “First Amendment” argument.  Issue one, to me, is pretty cut-and-dried.  When Alec Baldwin and his MSNBC Television show were cancelled after he hurled a derogatory slur at a photographer, I thought:  “What an idiot.”  When Martin Bashir resigned (or was forced to resign) after hurling some insults at Sarah “Quitter” Palin, my initial thought was:  “Idiot.”  Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Bashir are adults.  They understand that words have consequences; they spoke the words and paid the consequences.  I did not fly to my Facebook home page and scream FIRST AMENDMENT!!  FIRST AMENDMENT!!  FIRST AMENDMENT!!  Like I have seen so many others do in regards to Mr. Robertson.  I didn’t create a meme that stated:  “I’m with Bashir!”  or a meme that said:  “Baldwin Mis-quoted!!”  I shrugged my shoulders and moved on.  Any organization or company that hires an employee can, pretty much, suspend or fire said employee for anything.  If that employee wants to fight it in court, so be it, but I think we can all, pretty much, agree that this is a reality in your job, my job, anyone’s job.  As A&E stated, they did not feel that Mr. Robertson’s stated beliefs were representative of the company so they suspended him.


Martin said some not nice things...

 
Then there is issue number two:  The First Amendment.  And this is the “bigger picture” issue in my mind.  Simply put, you are free to say whatever it is you want to say, but you are not immune to the consequences of that speech.  It’s the old “crying fire in a movie theatre” argument.  You can certainly do it, but if people are killed in the process and there was no fire...well...you’re going to be in a bit of trouble.  I’m fully within my rights to go up to a 400 lb football player and call him a whiny-ass-little-baby and he’s, pretty much, within his rights to punch me in the face.  I have to decide if I want to, or can live with, the responses to my speech.  I’ll post this on my blog site and am fully aware that people may disagree with me, “yell” at me, compliment me, etc.  They’re fully within their rights to do so.  Certainly if I get a lot of mean comments coming my way I’m not going to go stand in a corner and say:  “You’re infringing upon my rights!”  You’re not.  You’re voicing your opinion which is what I’m doing.


What we're talking about...

 
Let’s get back to that old “First Amendment” thing.  I read a conservative author’s points about A&E and the First Amendment and then another and then I watched clips from Fox News and others also saying this is a First Amendment issue.  Is it?  Is it not?  I don’t know – but whether it is, or not, if you’re bringing it up in regards to this Phil Robertson thing, I call bullsh*t on that.  BULLSH*T!  Why?  Because why didn’t you bring it up when Alec Baldwin was fired?  Or Martin Bashir?  Or the band Pussy Riot was jailed?  Or those kids staging a peaceful sit-in that were sprayed with mace?  Why didn’t you bring it up when the Dixie Chicks were losing bookings and vilified in the press?  What about when Linda Ronstandt had a concert cancelled because the owner of the club didn’t like her politics?  Where were you when Richie Incognito was suspended by the Miami Dolphins for harassing a fellow player by leaving racist and offensive voice-mails on the guy’s phone?  Aren’t these all, in reality, first amendment issues?  Wasn’t Martin Bashir just voicing his opinion?  Or the Dixie Chicks?  Or....


Yeah, they were vilified for their beliefs....and where were the First Amendment Supporters then?  Probably at a Ted Nugent concert...



Then, of course, we have Fox News and their annual “War on Christmas” – doesn’t anyone have the right to change the name of a Christmas Tree to a “Holiday Tree?”  Isn’t that a first amendment right?  Yes, they can certainly complain about it, but isn’t it truly a first amendment issue?  A festivus pole?  Changing the name of a holiday parade so that it’s more inclusive?  Don’t they have a first amendment right to do that?  Certainly they do!  But don’t act like they’re infringing on YOUR belief system because you don’t like it.

Just like John Denver, I truly believe that there are a number of people out there who are huge fans of “Ducky Dynasty” and are kind of taken aback by one of the member’s opinions on gays and how blacks were treated before the civil rights movement.  The image of what they had seen on TV or read in books or heard in interviews was shaken a bit when they realize that maybe what they’ve been sold isn’t really what they bought.

But for those that continue to say this is a “First Amendment” issue – remember this:  the “First Amendment” applies to everyone.  Conservative, Liberal, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Communist, Socialist, etc.  The rich, the poor, the brilliant, the stupid.  Picking and choosing when to pull out the “FA” card just because it suits your argument or makes you feel better about yourself is a complete and total bullsh*t move.  You can’t just argue First Amendment when it suits you and write damning articles about a network or what not when, repeatedly, there have been other situations that would certainly qualify that you chose to ignore because it didn't fit your religious or political view point.

Much like the quote that started this blog, even if you disagree with the person speaking, you should still fight for their right to say it.  But if you only fight when you feel that it bests your argument or is something you agree with...then I call bullsh*t on that.  And that's my First Amendment right.

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