SCOTUS Rules in Favor for Westboro

“I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death you right to say it”

Don’t know who this quote belongs to but events at the SCOTUS today pretty much sums it up.  The Westboro Baptist Church has a right to say what they want and where they want, despite it being as vile as one can imagine.  In what might be a considered a rare event in an ideologically divided SCOTUS, they voted 8-1 in favor of the church. Alito was the only dissenting justice.

Most of you already know the Westboro Baptist Church is infamous for protesting at the funnels of our soldiers killed in battle. They say vile things such as their death are because God hates gays and America supports gays. According to the SCOTUS this falls under the banner of free speech, protected by the First Amendment.

While I cannot support in any way what these bozos at the Westboro Baptist Church say and where they say it, I do support their right to say it. I took an oath 28 years ago to defend the Constitution of the United States and I took that oath seriously. I would not want anyone taking away any of my rights, especially free speech. In my heart I was hoping the SCOTUS would also see this issue as a free speech issue. If they had ruled against the church, this would have opened all kinds of doors to anyone who felt they were done harm by someone else’s speech.

Think about this for a minute. Right now there is a battle raging for the future of this country.  Are we going to stay true to the principles on which this nation was founded? Or are we going to “fundamentally change” this nation in the progressive’s image? Fortunately this war is being waged with words, with lots of things being said by both sides. Could you imagine if the SCOTUS had ruled against the church, and had curbed free speech, no matter how vile? And who determines what is vile? The left has been accusing the Tea Party and other conservative groups of hate speech and racist language because we disagree with the current direction. Could a group like MoveOn take the Tea Party to court because their feelings were hurt by a Tea Party member saying they didn’t like MoveOn’s position on a contested issue? All MoveOn would have to do is scream “hate speech” and it’s off to court they go.  Even if the case had little to no validity, it would still tie up conservative resources, and that might actually be a goal in the first place.  Think Palin and the ethics suits brought against her while she was Governor of Alaska.

If the SCOTUS had ruled against the Westboro Baptist Church, chaos would have reigned.