My Rights vs Your Rights

When Barb and I went to Morocco, we were cautioned to not say anything against the King of Morocco while in his country.   Sometimes we, as Americans, forget that what we have as rights in our country may not always travel well.  In fact, a lot of people think that we in America are free to say anything and because it is our right, we will sound intelligent.  My prime recipient in the "Stupid is as Stupid says" award is the Fred Phelps and his Westborough Church  protestors.   They put all kinds of things on their signs and you can almost feel the spittle from their ignorance as you drive by where they are protesting something.  They boil down Jesus' words, "Man shall not lie down with man as he does with a woman" into "God Hates Fags!"  I wonder how many hours they had to search through the bible and how low the IQ of the person was to make that missive.


For the record, my rights are very important to me but I do have a sense of what their limits are.  I am pretty sure that about the third time I got my face punched it became aware that where I said my free speech was important.  Your right to tell everyone what you think is often slander or a punchable offense if said in the presence of the person you say it about.  Often a group of people can be arrested if they don't have a parade permit when they assemble.  Especially if they don't do it peaceable.  


So, I encourage you all to read your rights and understand them before the Police tell you that in spite of free speech, you have the right to remain silent, or look stupid when someone with a cell phone makes a movie of your rants. 


MUD