Free Speech Is Free Speech... Or Is It?

Free Speech Is Free Speech... Or Is It?

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Story Published: May 30, 2006 at 12:48 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 8:26 AM PDT

By Ken Schram

SEATTLE - I despise everything they stand for.

They gather at military funerals, chanting and waving placards about how God has "cursed" the families of those who've been killed.

Under their own perverted banner of Christianity, members of the Westboro Kansas Baptist Church are a traveling freak show; scurrying about the country in order to ridicule the families of dead servicemen and women.

They claim God is angry at America for its tolerance of homosexuality, and that those who died are but a sign of God's anger.

And then there's Congress.

The House and Senate decided to sacrifice a little bit of the 1st Amendment in an effort to deal with those miscreants.

Congress passed a measure that bans those particular demonstrations.

President Bush, who's already shown that he's no big fan of protecting our constitutional rights, has now signed the bill.

So, if we allow the President and Congress to begin narrowly defining which speech is free because it's benign, and which speech is not free because it bothers them, where do you think free speech will end up?

I hate what those Westboro Church people have to say.

But I hate the idea of government telling them it's illegal to say it, even more.

Want to share your thoughts with Ken Schram? You can e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com

And be sure to catch Ken Schram and John Carlson on their new radio show, "THE COMMENTATORS." Airing Monday through Friday, from 10 till noon on KOMO 1000, Ken and John will be delving into news of the day offering their own particular brand of insight and perspective - with a healthy dose of irreverence and humor thrown in for good measure.

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