Why Coulter’s Slur Is Not About The First Amendment

I’ve been watching the reactions to Ann Coulter’s now infamous f-word remark around the Internet and media. Predictably the neocons are claiming that us liberals are being hypocrites and denying Coulter her right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment. They couldn’t be more wrong.

Coulter went on Fox News to downplay her remark saying it was nothing more than a "schoolyard taunt." I’ll continue using Coulter’s analogy to illustrate my point.

Suppose my friends and I are hanging out on the schoolyard. My particular clique is called, oh I don’t know, let’s say "the reds." Across the playground is another clique hanging out called "the blues." I decide that I don’t like one of the blues named Suzy, so I make a remark calling her a f***ing c**t.

Now do I have the right to call Suzy that, no matter how crass it is? Absolutely. It’s guaranteed to me under the First Amendment.

Does Suzy and her friends the blues have a right to get mad about what I called her? Absolutely.

Can Suzy and her friends tell another group of kids, "the greens," what I said about her and suggest that the greens not play with me anymore? Absolutely.

Can the blues tell the rest of the reds that if they don’t want to be thought of as supporting that crude remark about Suzy that they should tell me what I did wasn’t cool? Absolutely.

When the greens and some of my fellow reds stop playing with me, has my right to free speech been silenced? Absolutely not, and that’s where the neocons are trying to confuse people.

What Coulter and her neocon cronies need to realize is that while they have the right to free speech and they can make whatever stupid, offensive remarks they want, there are still consequences for doing so. If you preach hate, and you get people hating you in return, don’t be surprised. Coulter and friends need to grow up and accept responsibility for their actions.

The First Amendment gives us the right to free speech, but it doesn’t give us a free ride.

Link via Scott-o-Rama

Life Explained

(Via tumbléo.)

Hagel Suggests Possibility Of Bush Impeachment: ‘He’s Not Accountable Anymore’

According to a new report in Esquire magazine, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) has suggested that Congress may consider the impeachment of President Bush before his term ends:

“The president says, ‘I don’t care.’ He’s not accountable anymore,” Hagel says, measuring his words by the syllable and his syllables almost by the letter. “He’s not accountable anymore, which isn’t totally true. You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don’t know. It depends how this goes.”

The conversation beaches itself for a moment on that word — impeachment — spoken by a conservative Republican from a safe Senate seat in a reddish state. It’s barely even whispered among the serious set in Washington, and it rings like a gong in the middle of the sentence, even though it flowed quite naturally out of the conversation he was having about how everybody had abandoned their responsibility to the country, and now there was a war going bad because of it.

Hagel isn’t the only one frustrated. The desire for more accountability over Bush has led to increasing calls for impeachment from the Washington State legislature, the mayor of Salt Lake City, and town hall meetings in Vermont.

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) said pushing for impeachment would be counterproductive because it would break off efforts to recruit conservative support for changing the course of the war in Iraq. “We’re trying to get [conservatives] to vote against the war. They’re coming around. You don’t hear them singing the virtues of George Bush like they used to. But nothing will turn this into a partisan lockdown faster than impeachment.” Inslee added, “Ending the war is what’s important now.”

Digg It!

(Via Think Progress.)

Not my job.

(Via tumbléo.)

Create Your Own Apple Rumor!

Often time our readers ask where we (and others) get Apple rumors from.

We have decided to share our ultimate weapon - the ‘Create your own Apple Rumor’ Chart.

You too can be an “inside source” with this amazing new handy dandy Apple Rumor creation tool.

You can use the chart to create top notch and completely trust worthy rumors…and if you’re too lazy to put the thing together yourself, you can simply click a link at the bottom of the page to generate your own brand-spankin’ new Apple Rumor.

Click Here to try it out

(BTW - we present this with tongue pressed firmly in cheek)

(Via Apple Gazette.)

Take a picture in Miami, go to jail

Mark Frauenfelder:
Miami police didn't want a photojournalist named Carlos Miller taking pictures of them, so they arrested him.

Miller said that in the next instant, he was surrounded by the officers. One attempted to trip kick him to fall to the ground, but he was concerned about his expensive camera equipment, so he tried not to fall on his face. He heard one officer say “He’s resisting arrest!”

Miller tried to explain he wasn’t, but he’d lost his negotiating leverage a few minutes back. He went down hard on one knee. The officers planted (Miller said slammed) his face into the concrete and twisted his wrists and arms behind him to the point of pain.

“They were treating me like I was uncontrollable, a meth addict or something,” he said. “I tried to explain, but one of them said, ‘If you don’t shut up, I’m going to tase you.’”

Miller, at last, shut up.

Link | Link to more info (Thanks, Thomas!)

(Via Boing Boing.)

Boston PD: putting the error in terror

Cory Doctorow:
Bruce Schneier has a great new slogan for the Boston PD (who recently followed up their million-dollar panic over lite-brite boxes by blowing up a traffic-counting machine):

Boston PD: Putting the "error" in "terror."

Link

See also:

Boston police blow up traffic counter chained to lightpost

Deconstructing the Great ATHF Freak Out of 2007

Update
Greg sez, "The folks at Controvert have a sticker that, though a few years old, is timely once again in light of the recent ATHF attacks on 1/31."

(Via Boing Boing.)

Lord of the Rings Online - First Impressions

The most exciting MMO news in recent memory for many of us was a Lord of the Rings themed MMORPG. Of course, no MMORPG can be discussed without pointing out the massive World of Warcraft currently shadowing over all games in the genre. Can Tolkein's hobbits slay the beast that is WoW? Or will they be quickly disposed of by Blizzard's fierce orcs?

read more | digg story