Putting a Bullseye on the Constitution
There is hardly a better way to degrade the entire idea of political speech than by classing everyone who is in any way critical of the government as “anti-government”. Such a label creates two camps, the camp of government and the camp of everyone unhappy with government, and defines the latter camp by the actions of a psychotic killer, who was unhappy with government, grammar and higher mathematics, among a seemingly inexhaustible supply of other things. Such a course is not only intellectually dishonest, it is also far more dangerous than slapping a bullseye across a congressman.
A bullseye on a single politician endangers only that politician, but criminalizing political speech ultimately endangers every politician and the First Amendment. If Jared Loughner took aim and fired at a Republican judge and a Democratic congresswoman, those in the majority party who are trying to use him as an excuse for undermining free speech, are taking aim and firing at the United States Constitution and the freedoms that make democracy possible.
After 9/11, some liberals claimed that the Bush Administration was tearing up the Constitution over the deaths of a few thousand people by an organized worldwide terrorist network. Yet now they feel compelled to attack the 1st and 2nd amendments of the Bill of Rights over the deaths of a far smaller number of people at the hands of madman who acted alone. And it isn’t the first time.
And now… the rest of the story. …..
Harold
