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No violence. No confrontations. Just a cordon of bodies — OUR bodies — joined together in a huge, protective ring.
Imagine it: human sound barriers.
Of course, by doing so, we are making a statement of our own: That we so admire what America’s heroes were willing to do for us that we are willing to take our time not only to honor their memories but also to protect their loved ones — the way THEY protected us by putting themselves in harm’s way.
Jerry DeMarco Publisher/Editor
The high court expressed sympathy for the family of the dead soldier whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay demonstraters from a midwest Baptist Church bashing the U.S. military for allowing homosexuals in its ranks.
“[The] funeral picketing is certainly hurtful and its contribution to public discourse may be negligible,” the SCOTUS justices concluded.
“Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain,” they said. “On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a nation we have chosen a different course — to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”
However, the justices reaffirmed the First Amendment right to free speech.
In essence, they said that what these low-lifes did wasn’t comparable to shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater. The group held a peaceful demonstration, the justices ruled, and its public message trumped any emotional injury the sickening display might have caused. The only dissenter in the 8-1 decision was New Jersey’s own Samuel Alito.
“The placards highlighted issues of public import — the political and moral conduct of the United States and its citizens, the fate of the nation, homosexuality in the military and scandals involving the Catholic clergy — and [the church group] conveyed its views on those issues in a manner designed to reach as broad a public audience as possible,” the Supremes said.
But here’s the good news: We have constitutional protections ourselves, and we can use them to keep the treacherous goons as far as possible from where they simply don’t belong.
Human Shields: has a bit of a ring to it. Or come up with a name of your own.
Let’s just be sure that those left behind see and hear only respect, honor and admiration.
As it should be.
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