Thank goodness Fred Phelps and his horrible Westboro Baptist church finally have to face the music. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of bigoted, homophobic jerks.
Having said that I'm not personally sure that protesting at the funerals of soldiers, as reprehensible as it is, rises to the level of yelling fire in a crowded theater. I do think there are first amendment questions here that I'm not willing to ignore just because Phelps is an A-grade asshole. It appears to me that Phelps and his church do have a 1st Amendment argument.
Still, it's hard for rationale people not to be smugly satisified at this judgement. Besides gays Phelps has railed against jews, hate speech, patriotism, the Irish and even Swedes. Althhough it's hard to fault him for this last bit. Who would disagree that the world would be a better place with fewer lutefisk-eating death metal-listening Swedes to kick around?
Having said that I'm not personally sure that protesting at the funerals of soldiers, as reprehensible as it is, rises to the level of yelling fire in a crowded theater. I do think there are first amendment questions here that I'm not willing to ignore just because Phelps is an A-grade asshole. It appears to me that Phelps and his church do have a 1st Amendment argument.
Still, it's hard for rationale people not to be smugly satisified at this judgement. Besides gays Phelps has railed against jews, hate speech, patriotism, the Irish and even Swedes. Althhough it's hard to fault him for this last bit. Who would disagree that the world would be a better place with fewer lutefisk-eating death metal-listening Swedes to kick around?
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