Freedom of speech...w/out consequence or responsibility?

[Karma]

We've all seen the news reports about the tea party marine who was detained & booted for his comments against Pres. Obama on FB; the latino tea party congressman in California who was confronted by secret service after posting "Assassisinate the fucking n******" on FB when speaking of the president ; Ted Nugent making allusions to assassinating the president should he win the '12 election & being confronted by law enforcement.

all of these ppl have cried foul saying what they had to say was protected by free speech.

freedom of speech is something we value in america very much but why does it seem that more & more ppl don't want to accept the responsibility of facing the consequence of their speech? yes you can say what you please BUT you dont get to dictate other's response to it.

so yeah someone could call the president the n word & call for his assassination but then they run the risk of being confronted b/c of it. why is that so hard for ppl to understand?

It just seems to me like these days ppl think saying whatever they want means they dont have to face the consequences of it & that's dangerous.

 

[Clara Oswald]

I COMPLETELY agree with you Jill. I think people use "free speech" as an excuse to be hateful.

Sorry, but whatever you think of Obama, calling him the n word is not free speech. It's on its way to a hate crime. People miss the difference between that and the ability to say he's a bad president (just using the example, I know that's not what everyone thinks!)

Should anyone in this country be able to say, "I think Obama is a terrible president and I am going to work so he is not re-elected"? Yes.

Should anyone be able to say, "I think the worst thing that could happen to this country is Mitt Romney being elected and I am going to do everything in my power to make sure he isn't elected"? Yes.

Free speech is the ability to give your opinion without being silenced because someone else doesn't agree with you. It is NOT the ability to say whatever you want in any way that you like.

I will use the example that is easiest and that is a message board example lol. I'm the admin and I ask everyone to treat each other with respect and courtesy. Members are angry about this and say "this is against free speech!" My response to that is always that they are free to have and share whatever opinion they want to, but they must do it in a way that is respectful. And that is not restricting free speech.

 

[Karma]

I Sorry, but whatever you think of Obama, calling him the n word is not free speech. It's on its way to a hate crime. People miss the difference between that and the ability to say he's a bad president (just using the example, I know that's not what everyone thinks!)

Should anyone in this country be able to say, "I think Obama is a terrible president and I am going to work so he is not re-elected"? Yes.

Should anyone be able to say, "I think the worst thing that could happen to this country is Mitt Romney being elected and I am going to do everything in my power to make sure he isn't elected"? Yes.

yes! :nod: agreed!

Free speech is the ability to give your opinion without being silenced because someone else doesn't agree with you. It is NOT the ability to say whatever you want in any way that you like.

FRAME THIS! :judge:

I will use the example that is easiest and that is a message board example lol. I'm the admin and I ask everyone to treat each other with respect and courtesy. Members are angry about this and say "this is against free speech!" My response to that is always that they are free to have and share whatever opinion they want to, but they must do it in a way that is respectful. And that is not restricting free speech.

i think online it becomes even more of a problem. ppl use the relative anonymity of their computers & keyboards to allow common sense, courtesy & respect to completely check out when they say some of the things they say. its outrageous. ppl think their right to freedom of speech justifies hounding someone to the point that they would kill themselves. irresponsible savages.

 

[Clara Oswald]

I couldn't tell you how many times someone has said to me that I was violating their free speech on BB. Once, some guy threw an out and out tantrum because I edited his post to remove something in kewl talk because it took ME about five minutes to figure out what the word was, let alone our members from non-English speaking countries. The guy actually left the board because of that.