In the very bastion of the politically correct comes news that it’s not acceptable to desecrate the American flag in all cases. If for example, you hate the President, hate America, subscribe to Rolling Stone or Mother Jones and have just stolen the American flag you are burning from the VFW hall, you are well within your constitutional rights to lay waste to the flag.
However, if you’re a drunken lout like Michael Higbie of New Haven, Connecticut, who while in the alleged act of desecrating an American flag at the Sailor’s Monument in West Haven, made the unforgivable blunder of using the “N” word in addressing a black man who was attempting to rescue the flag, you are in some serious trouble.
Higbie’s big mistake, besides his bad attitude, was assuming that the First Amendment protects all speech, regardless of how offensive said speech might be to others. The truth is, it’s not what is said but who says it. The rule of thumb is this – if you wouldn’t feel comfortable at an ACLU meeting, then you’ld best be careful what you say.
are you seriously defending a person for using the “n” word? that you would care one way or the other that a drunken lout is burning the flag and the one person who attempts to help out is black and then castigated by the miscreant seems just a tad hypocritical. You don’t get it both ways. Speech that is offensive is different from speech that at one time was all about keeping an entire race subservient. You want to protect the flag, then protect the flag and not the ignorants using the flag as an excuse to be offsensive, beyond the obvious offense.
Mary Kay-
You are a great example of what went wrong with Liberalism in America. Did you know that there are Americans who legitimately find homosexuality offensive because of religious belief (this group includes all Muslims) and not because of “homophobia” (an entirely bogus term)? Or did you know that there are those who find the increasing attacks on Christianity and Christians offensive?
The “N” word is repugnant but freedom of speech means freedom of speech. You are trying to pick and choose your offenses.