The Seminal
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The Bipartisan Solution that Creates 2 Million Jobs and Costs Nothing
Wed. Mar. 17, 07:15pm EST
Monday a bipartisan group of 130 members of Congress, ranging from Dennis Kucinich on the left to Joe Wilson on the right, wrote to President Obama asking him to stop Chinese currency manipulation. The Congressman wrote:
By pegging the renminbi (RMB) to the U.S. dollar at a fixed exchange rate, China unfairly subsidizes its exports and disadvantages foreign imports. As we work to promote a robust U.S. economic recovery, it is imperative that we address this paramount trade issue with all available resources. We urge your agencies to respond to China’s currency manipulation with the actions outlined in this letter. Doing so will allow American companies and workers to compete fairly against their Chinese counterparts and will boost U.S. economic recovery and growth.
The impact of China’s currency manipulation on the U.S. economy cannot be overstated. Maintaining its currency at a devalued exchange rate provides a subsidy to Chinese companies and unfairly disadvantages foreign competitors. U.S. exports to the country cannot compete with the low-priced Chinese equivalents, and domestic American producers are similarly disadvantaged in the face of subsidized Chinese imports. The devaluation of the RMB also exacerbates the already severe U.S-China trade deficit. Statistics show that between January 2000 and May 2009, China’s share of the U.S. trade deficit for non-oil goods grew from 26% to 83% — an untenable pattern for American manufacturers.
The crisis with China is accelerating quickly, and is so severe that economists from all over the political spectrum are calling for the U.S. to take drastic action against China currency manipulation. Economists such as Paul Krugman, who was long a champion of free trade and opponent of tariffs, are saying that what China is doing isn’t free trade, but cheating. Writing Monday in the New York Times Paul Krugman reversed positions on tariffs, saying:
Some still argue that we must reason gently with China, not confront it. But we’ve been reasoning with China for years, as its surplus ballooned, and gotten nowhere: on Sunday Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, declared — absurdly — that his nation’s currency is not undervalued. (The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates that the renminbi is undervalued by between 20 and 40 percent.) And Mr. Wen accused other nations of doing what China actually does, seeking to weaken their currencies "just for the purposes of increasing their own exports."
But if sweet reason won’t work, what’s the alternative? In 1971 the United States dealt with a similar but much less severe problem of foreign undervaluation by imposing a temporary 10 percent surcharge on imports, which was removed a few months later after Germany, Japan and other nations raised the dollar value of their currencies. At this point, it’s hard to see China changing its policies unless faced with the threat of similar action — except that this time the surcharge would have to be much larger, say 25 percent
This follows similar sentiments echoed last month by free trade loving, tariff hating Robert Samuelson.
Samuelson writing in the Washington Post said:
Greater conflicts and a collision of national egos seem inevitable. No longer should we sit passively while China’s trade and currency policies jeopardize jobs here and elsewhere. Political differences between the countries are increasingly hard to ignore.
The crisis has gotten so severe that economists who have long fought for conservative ideology and against tariffs are saying we need them to correct the imbalance. Last week, progressive economist Rob Scott of EPI and C. Fred Bergsten, director of the conservative Peterson Institute for International Economics as well as Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman. Bergsten heads the Peterson Institute for International Economics – which has called for cuts in Social Security in order to save our economy – while Rob Scott works for an organization, EPI, which has fought such cuts and stated deficit spending is the key to saving our economy.
However these two economists from different sides of the political spectrum both agree that fighting Chinese currency manipulation is the key to fixing our economy. Bergsten stated that 2-3 million jobs could be created by addressing Chinese Currency Manipulation. Bergsten told the forum that:
If there is going to be a serious jobs program, the exchange rate of the dollar must be at the center of the debate
Even right wing nut Pat Buchanan, representing of the angry white men of the Tea Party movement, says we have to do something about Chinese currency manipulation:
Even a (Milton) Friedmanite free-trader should be able to see the disaster all around us and ask: What benefit does America receive from these mountains of imported goods to justify the terrible damage done to our country and countrymen?
Indeed,a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll showed that Americans viewed protecting manufacturing as the best way to create jobs. Americans across the political spectrum agree that best way to deal with the jobs crisis is to protect manufacturing.
The question is will President Obama listen? On April 15th, the Administration is releasing a list of currency manipulators around the world. The U.S. in the past has failed to declare China a currency manipulator despite the fact that President Obama called China a currency manipulator during the campaign. Labeling China a currency manipulator would be a first step in confronting China on unfair trade. If China refuses to take action to correct this problem then the U.S. would be forced to do what Paul Krugman is advocating and place tariffs on China.
The people have spoken. President Obama must now listen to Americans from across the political spectrum and confront China – labeling them a currency manipulator and if that doesn’t work placing tariffs on China.
Tags: China, currency, Obama, tariffs
original post on The Seminal :: Independent Media And Politics, Wed. Mar. 17, 06:00pm EST -
Texas School Board Educates Congress, Treasury, Federal Reserve Board
Wed. Mar. 17, 04:00pm EST
Last week we read about the efforts of the willfully/happily ignorant Texas School Board to dummy up social studies/history books to make sure students were fully indoctrinated in the belief that unfettered free enterprise and market deregulation are not only the path to economic success but moral, even religious imperatives.
This week we continue to get confirmation that unfettered free enterprise and market deregulation lead inevitably to economic disaster and massive human suffering, while the nation’s inability to reverse course is a sign of its political and moral decline.
So, which lesson iz r kids learning?
If we think our government elites have advanced much beyond the delusion that humans walked with dinosaurs, how do we explain our government’s deference to too-big-to-fail banks and the continued belief by nearly half of Congress that government shouldn’t intervene in the economy to reduce unemployment?
We have an Administration that today meekly announced that there isn’t much they can do about the fact unemployment will remain about 10 percent through the rest of year. It seems we just have to wait for the labor market to self-correct, which, we are promised, it will do after a predictable "lag" and after the bailed out and restored banking system deems it suitable to do less looting and more lending.
Last night, our Treasury Secretary told Rachel Maddow (as he’s told others) that the previous Administration and its regulators made egregious mistakes in overseeing financial giants. No kidding. But this is the same Tim Geithner who publically undermined even a modest Volker rule designed to encourge too-big-to-fail banks to become smaller. And it’s the same Tim Geithner who headed the New York Federal Reserve while it was watching, even helping, Lehman commit Enron-style accounting fraud by hiding its excessive leverage.
Just as the Texas Board is rewriting history, so our government is in the process of forgetting that its disastrous deregulation of the financial sector created the breeding grounds for a massive financial meltdown.
The worst financial collapse in 75 years occurred within the last 3-4 years, but that history seems to be having little effect on Congress. We aren’t planning to break up the big banks, don’t know how to wind down international mega-banks, can’t figure out how to change compensation incentives and have no better plan to avoid systemic risks than to ask a "council" composed of the same people who denied we had a problem last time to be more careful next time. Can we have a fully independent consumer protection agency to make lenders think twice before bilking consumers? You must be kidding.
Allen Greenspan, the previously infallible pope of unfettered markets, told Henry Waxman last year that his entire philosophical premise about self-correcting markets had just been shattered by the market’s collapse. That should have been the end of this free market nonsense, but that speech will likely not make it into the next text books. The current chairman fears the Fed’s credibility might slip if it raised the inflation target to spur more growth and employment.
Instead, we’ll all be reading about how everything would have been just fine if the government hadn’t indulged in reckless tax and spend policies, unfunded entitlements, government controlled health plans, and deficit spending that couldn’t possibly create a single job, except maybe the ones in your local Congressman’s district.
The Texas School Board isn’t rewriting history; it’s just revealing what our elites have come to believe and are still using as their guidebook. Welcome to Texas. Please bow your heads to say, "thank you, Jesus, and watch out for the dinosaurs."
Related:
Yves Smith, Lehman: Regulators chose to deny extend, and pretend; also, Geithner Implicated in Lehman Accounting Fraud Allegation
HuffPo/Ryan McCarthy, Lehman’s Bizarro World
Bloomberg, Geither says unemployment may peak in second half of 2010
Paul Krugman, Alexander Hamilton was always at war with EastAsia
BaseLine Scenario/Simon Johnson, Enron and Merrill, Greece and Goldman
Tula Connell, Texas may bar students from learning about Cesare Chavez, Thurgood MarshallTags: Congress, Economy, Federal Reserve Board, Texas School Board, Tim Geithner, unemployment
original post on The Seminal :: Independent Media And Politics, Wed. Mar. 17, 04:00pm EST -
What health reform will do for America – two examples
Wed. Mar. 17, 03:10pm EST
Two headlines today highlight glaring problems in our health care system that would be fixed if health reform passes.
First, from Pennsylvania, the New York Times headlines "Big Insurance Rate Increase for Pennsylvania Poor":
Facing a sharp rise in costs, Pennsylvania has almost doubled the monthly bill for a state health insurance program for poor people who do not qualify for Medicaid and are on a waiting list for a less costly option.
On March 1, the cost of the plan rose to about $600 a month, up from $313 a month, for the roughly 2,400 state residents on the waiting list.
…
Established in 2002, Pennsylvania’s state insurance program, called AdultBasic, covers adults ages 19 to 65 with incomes lower than twice the federal poverty level, or about $21,672 for a single person, at a cost to participants of about $36 per month. About 39,000 people are enrolled in AdultBasic.
About 390,000 other people are on a waiting list to join the AdultBasic program. While they wait, the state gives them the option to pay for the same insurance at a higher rate. It is the cost for members of the waiting list that rose on March 1 to about $600 a month.
Health reform solves this problem.
For families who make 133% of the Federal Poverty Level or less – about $24,000 per year – health reform would allow them to get on Medicaid. Those families who make more than that – up to 400% of the FPL or about $73,000 per year – will be able to purchase heavily subsidized insurance in the Exchanges.
For families making between 133% FPL and 200% FPL ($24,000 – $36,000 per year) – the people affected by Pennsylvania’s rate increase above – their average cost for insurance, both premiums and out of pocket, will be [pdf] around $63 per month for families at 133% up to $244 per month for families at 200%.
The next headline is from Kaiser Health News, "Drug Prices Rise For Seniors Who Reach Medicare Part D Coverage Gap":
Seniors who hit the coverage gap in their Medicare prescription drug plans and must use their own money to buy drugs are facing price increases that are far outpacing inflation, a new study finds.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, prices paid by enrollees in standalone Part D plans who enter the coverage gap increased 5 percent or more since January 2009 for half of 10 brand-name drugs most commonly used by seniors. That’s almost twice the rate of inflation over the same period.
For example, the price of Actonel, a treatment for osteoporosis, increased 8 percent, from $91 per month in 2009 to $98 per month in 2010. Meanwhile, the prices for both Aricept, an Alzheimer’s medication, and Plavix, a drug used to prevent blood clots, both increased by 7 percent during the same period. Aricept’s prices rose from $184 to $198 while Plavix’s rose from $142 to $152. Lipitor, a cholesterol medication, was the only drug surveyed that decreased in price, from slightly more than $86 to just under $86 per month.
The rising prices are part of a longer is sufficient longer-term trend. Between January 2006 and January 2010, the analysis showed, prices of drugs bought by seniors who hit the coverage gap increased 20 to 25 percent for Lipitor, Plavix, Nexium, a drug for acid-reflux, and Lexapro, a medication for depression and anxiety; 39 percent for Actonel, and 41 percent for Aricept. Over the same period, inflation has increased 9.2 percent while prices for medical care have surged 16.1 percent.
Health reform solves this problem, too. Immediately after passage of the bill, seniors will get immediate relief that starts closing that coverage gap. The gap will be completely closed as health reform is implemented.
There are a few more noteworthy immediate affects of reform as well:
- Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
- Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool; (this will help with the Pennsylvania situation as well)
- Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;
- Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
- Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;
- Require plans to cover an enrollee’s dependent children until age 26;
- Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;
- Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;
- Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs.
Reform will also help people like 11-year-old Marcelas Owens, who’s mother died because she didn’t have insurance:
And Matt Masterson’s son, who’s pre-existing condition makes him virtually uninsurable, a near death sentence as soon as he’s kicked of his father’s insurance plan in a few years:
Finally, today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee came out with numbers on how reform will help people in every Congressional district.
The vote is coming in the House. It’s likely to take place this weekend. Without reform, none of these problems get solved, and the insurance companies will get to continue their business practices of denying care and carving out coverage while making record profits.
It’s time to for the House to decide, and you should pick up the phone and help them.
(also posted at the NOW! blog)
I’m proud to work for Health Care for America Now
Tags: donut hole, Health care, health reform, medicaid
original post on The Seminal :: Independent Media And Politics, Wed. Mar. 17, 02:09pm EST -
What you missed on Saturday Art and Food Sunday
Wed. Mar. 17, 12:00pm EST
Better late than never – I blame health care. Here’s what you missed last weekend on Saturday Art and Food Sunday.
On Saturday Art, cuddlefish brought us an ink drawing:
Lisa Derrick discussed the tensions involved in public art:
In Los Angeles, public art requires a city permit to be on private property. Local Los Angeles blog The Eastsider reports:
Silver Lake residents Amy Seidenwurm and Russell Bates were so charmed by the bears and other critters that they commissioned the artist, Phil Lumbang, to paint a mural on the approximately 30-foot long by 10-foot high wall in front of their home. Most people loved it, stopping to have their photos taken in front of the colorful scene painted last April. More than 35,000 people viewed a YouTube video Bates shot of Lumbang painting the happy forest creatures. But one neighbor objected, complaining that the mural would make their Silver Lake street "seem ghetto" and attract taggers and other street artists, Bates said.
Los Angeles Building and Safety ordered the mural painted over by March 1, but the couple have been granted a one month extension while city officials–prompted by Councilman Eric Garcetti–try to figure out if there is a legal way to keep the mural up.
Adam Tolland had an original print:
Bill Egnor had more local public art from Denver:
This week’s public art from Denver is two statues from Colombian artist Fernando Botero. They sit outside the main theater entrance of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. The pieces are called Man and Woman respectively. Botero is known for the his disproportional style. He paints and sculpts “fat people” from an aesthetic point of view, rather than a representational one.
Art Threat looked at Michael Moore’s marketing:
Michael Moore’s latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story takes aim at the elite bankers and CEOs who are steering America’s economy into the gutter, and among the bad guys he goes after is none other than the world’s largest and most brutal retailer, Wal-Mart (now re-branded as Walmart). Moore exposes Walmart’s dirty practice of taking out insurance claims on its employees and cashing in on their deaths without telling their families.
So it may come as a bit of a surprise that Moore’s anti-capitalism, anti-Walmart documentary goes on sale today…in Walmart.
dakine01 discussed a favorite read:
When I was ten years old, my great aunt gave me a copy of Palgrave’s The Golden Treasury for my birthday with the inscription "A lifetime of good wishes to you."
Now, I was a standard ten year old boy, so I was probably barely, begrudgingly gracious to Edie after this gift. I don’t remember exactly but would guess I would have preferred receiving a sports biography (if I had to get a book) or some sports equipment. So I put the book on the shelf and forgot about it.
Fast forward to the time when my sister and I are cleaning out our parents place after they had died. I picked up the book once again, having completely forgotten about it. In fact, it still didn’t really register to me that it was mine until I checked the inscription. Since I’m the only one in the family with a June birthday, I realized that it was mine.
Mitchell Frye brought us a photograph:
masaccio had a discussion of a famous wedding portrait:
This portrait hangs at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, along with dozens of other portraits by the Dutch Masters. So many of the subjects are frozen faced, miserable looking people, like Frans Snyder, who was a still life painter and a buddy of Hals. Hals was different, a jolly sort, the kind of guy who hoisted a few, and knew people like The Merry Drunkard.
Portraits focus on the person, but there is usually a lot to see in the rest of the painting, the clothes, the jewelry, the hats, and the background. Both are used to tell us about the person pictured. In the Marriage Portrait, there is a thistle at the feet of Isaac, a symbol of male fidelity. The ivy at the feet of Beatrix and in the tree above her is a symbol of the attachment of the wife to the husband. Both wear nice clothes and lace decorations, and Beatrix has the usual neck ruff. I always wonder if that was unpleasant. I don’t know how to describe the detail in her dress, but it is lovely, and her scarf gives a nice bit of color to relieve the black cloth.
And Jake Remington brought us a sculpture:
On Food Sunday, demi told a personal story:
I had planned the nicest dinner for last night, but, alas, like the best laid plans of mice and me, it ended in a disaster. Well, not a disaster like a hurricane or another earthquake, just not what I was looking forward to. The menu included rib eye steak, green salad, red potatoes and garlic bread. I had taken the steak off the broiler and put in on a nice serving dish on top of the stove and had put the garlic bread in when the phone rang. It was my sister. We got talking about my dear Aunt Ginny who has been in the hospital all week, basically dying.
She collapsed a week ago and was rushed by ambulance to the medical center. After several days of tests, the doctors announced that she was suffering from heart failure. When I saw her on Tuesday, she was semi-conscious and could nod or shake her head and when I saw her on Thursday, she could still squeeze my hand back in response to the things I was telling her. I told her just how much I love her and reminisced about the fun times I had at her house. I gave her a head and neck massage during that visit.
Kelly Canfield taught us how to make naan:
I am a huge fan of Indian food. I just love all the inventive combinations of spices, vegetables, fruits, curries, relishes, everything!
Mr. B and I make a lot of Hindi inspired food at home, and regardless of what the main and side dishes might be, we just can’t get enough Naan.
This recipe is from Manjula’s Kitchen. (I just love her! She’s so generous.)
Jim Moss discussed ways to fight corporate power, including local food:
Sadly, it appears that Barack Obama is unwilling or unable to take on corporate America. He talks tough, but accommodates when the chips are really on the table – as the health care debate has conveniently demonstrated. More and more Americans are waking up to the fact that with a few notable exceptions, both Republicans and Democrats in Washington are basically employees of corporate lobbyists.
Perhaps one of the best ways to counter the stranglehold large corporations have on our economy and our government is to go underground. We can take the legs out from under the Wal-Marts, Exxons, Monsantos, and Coca-Colas of the world by finding alternatives to the corporate-consumer culture we have been raised in. Here’s a quick list of 5 ways we can get started.
Jessica Glasscoe had a recipe for peach cobbler:
When I come home from the farmer’s market, toting a basket of fruit, the inevitable chain of events that follows goes something like this: I place the fruit on the counter, walk over to my recipe binders to grab the blue dessert binder, then go stand in front of my cookbook cabinet, scanning titles, mentally flipping the pages I know so well, grab a few books for inspiration, then plop myself on the couch, preferrably with a cup of coffee in hand, to decide what fate my little fruits will meet.
A perfect piece of fruit sometimes needs no accompaniment at all, but usually I can’t resist an opportunity to pull out the flour and sugar, so that perfect piece of fruit becomes a perfect little dessert. In the world of desserts, there is terrain I’ve yet to explore…treats and goodies that have never emerged from my oven, such as madeleines and canneles. But when it comes to fruit, I always ponder the classic options first – will it be a pie this time, or a tart? A cobbler or a buckle? A crisp or a slump? Or, a cake, with tender pieces of fruit tucked inside?
Bill Egnor had a recipe for grain bread:
Happy Sunday everyone! This week I had a request for a multi-grain bread, but one that was not too heavy on the rye. The Dark Grains bread is a perfect fit. The loaves come out a nice dark color and give a rich and complex taste. Liz does not love this loaf, so I am just going to give you the recipe, no pictures this time around. Sorry, but you don’t really need pictures to make this bread. There are only one set of instructions, as it can not really be made in stand mixer, this bread is old school all the way.
This makes two medium loaves
This dough has to be kneaded by hand; it is way too heavy for a stand mixer.
And Toby Wollin had the news, all the dirt that’s fit to print:
And, good food and good day to everyone! To the News!!
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency had a confirmed case of BSE in a cow but the news was not released for several weeks. The ‘money quote’ here is at the end of the article: Rates of testing are down on cow populations being brought into the US. Mad Cow Disease Case Hidden
Looking for a list of foods which have been recalled due to the hydrolyzed vegetable protein case? Here’s one: http://efoodalert.blogspot.com/2010/03/wheres-hvp-check-this-list-of-recalled.html
Organic and sustainable food advocates hit Capital Hill this week against S.510 and (gasp!) served RAW MILK! http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/03/libertarian-farmers-push-back-against-s510/
Head over, check out the posts, leave us a comment, and we’ll see you next weekend for more art and food!
Tags: Culture, Food Sunday, Saturday Art
original post on The Seminal :: Independent Media And Politics, Wed. Mar. 17, 12:00pm EST -
On The Protection Of Hateful Speech -Westboro Baptist Church
Wed. Mar. 17, 11:05am EST
A couple of days ago someone pointed out that I had two differing views on a topic in the same post. It came from my need to give some credence to the ideas that disagree with mine, but it is not the only time I find myself in conflict with myself. Take the situation with the incredibly vile and to my mind utterly worthless members of Westboro Baptist Church. These are the malignant and maleficent idiots that protest at military funerals with signs that say such warm and fluffy things as “Semper Fi Fags” and “God Hates You”. They are protesting what they see as the over acceptance of homosexuality in America. They believe that God is punished the United States with 9/11 for our tolerance of our gay citizens.
This is where the conflict comes about. On the one hand they are out there protesting against people that I have lived with all my life. I was a kid actor; I basically grew up in a small professional kid’s repertory theater. There were gay and lesbian adults among our stage managers, our directors and our choreographers. There were gay kids in the troop. Even in the late 70’s and 80’s it was no big deal. They are and were good artists and performers and that mattered a hell of a lot more than whom they were dating or living with.
As egalitarian as things were inside that community it was not all peaches and cream. When Sid got the crap kicked out of him by some local skinhead punks, it came home to me how little tolerance the world had for some of the most important people in my life at that time. I am not proud of the fact that several of us went out and met violence with violence by kicking the crap out of that group of punks, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
"Originally posted at Squarestate.net
It has been and will be a central focus of my political life to work so that all citizens have the same rights and privileges as all other citizens. To be denied rights because of your gender or sexuality or ethic group is unacceptable and always will be.
The problem I have with the Westboro haters is my desire to have equal rights for all means that I support the Constitution. I support it all the time and in whole, not just when it is protecting those that I agree with. While what they are doing is heinous and very nearly inhuman it is protected by the 1st Amendment’s free speech clause and about 100 years of case law.
Westboro has been sued by the family of one of the soldiers whose funeral they showed up at. Marine Lance Corporal Mathew Snyder died in Iraq as was being buried in 2003 when the radical cleric Phelps and his deluded and bitter church members showed up to protest at his funeral. The Snyder family was, as you might expect, appalled and furious at this action. They filed suit against Westboro and were initially awarded $10 million dollars.
The case was overturned by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and has been appealed to the United States Supreme Court. It will be heard by the High Court this coming fall. The argument that the Snyder’s are making is that their right to assemble peaceably and their right to practice their religion are being infringed on by the protection of the Westboro Baptist Church’s rights to political free speech.
It is unlikely that they are going to get a lot of traction with either of these arguments. On the religious freedom argument they are going to run into the problem of asking the State to decide between two religious beliefs, Westboro’s or the Snyder’s. While the State should not interfere with the religious practice of the Snyder’s, it is even worse for it to become involved in deciding which religious belief is more valid. Look for the High Court to say something along those lines.
On the free assembly argument they are likely to lose because while the actions of Westboro are distressing (to say the least) they are not actively disruptive in and of themselves. The press coverage of the protest and the desire for good video of angry mourners is disruptive, but the hateful morons of Westboro are not actually committing those acts of disruption.
In the end the Fourth Circuit got it right when they said
“… As utterly distasteful as these signs are they involve matters of public concern, including the issue of homosexuals in the military, the sex-abuse scandal within the Catholic Church, and the political and moral conduct of the United States and its citizens."
It is surprising that the Supreme Court is willing to hear a case that seems so settled on its face. There must be some sympathy to the plaintiff’s arguments among the Justices for it to be heard. Still this court has shown itself ready to wade into what is considered settled law on other issues (gun control in particular) even when there is a good chance that they will be unable to resolve the questions that would result from overturning previous decisions.
The evil fools of Westboro are completely unsympathetic defendants. No normal, caring citizen would ever think that what they are doing and the words they use to do it are acceptable. These people are desperate sick attention seekers hiding behind out Constitutional tolerance of religion. That said they are also citizens of the United States and as such they have a right to say any hurtful, hateful foolish thing they like about the policies of this nation. It is a right we on in the blogosphere cherish and use every day. To restrict them is to open the door for us to be restricted.
The best remedy for heinous objectionable speech is more speech, not less. Which is why I am really proud of the members of the Patriot Guard Riders; they are group of motorcycle riders who volunteer their time (and frankly intimidating demeanor) to shielding the families of the war dead from protesters of any kind. They were formed in response to the Westboro Baptist Church’s actions, but they don’t specialize there. If you are so callus as to think that the funeral of a soldier is a good place to make your political point, they are going to do every legal and peaceful thing they can to get in between you and the family of the dead.
This is the 1st Amendment in its finest tangible form. There is no limit to the things that Westboro can say, but there is also no limit to the verbal response from other citizens. It is what the Framers intended, for ideas good, bad or ugly to be put out and either accepted or refuted by other free speakers in society.
While it tears me up to defend the rights of such a hateful group, it is what must be done if we want to have a pluralistic and free society. If the State starts choosing what religious expression wins or if it starts to limit the ability for minority speech (no matter how wrong or evil) to be heard, we are in for a hell of a lot of trouble. While it is painful for the families of the dead to have to deal with this, there are times when we have to look at the overall affect on our society of trying to do the right thing to shield them from such hateful acts. It is far better that some big and tough looking bikers stand up for the rights of all than it is for us to slowly chip away at our ability to speak our minds.
The floor is yours.
Tags: 1st Amendment, Free Speech, gay rights, GLTBQI, Michael Snyder, Supreme Court, Westboro Baptist Church
original post on The Seminal :: Independent Media And Politics, Wed. Mar. 17, 10:00am EST
