[Robert_Paulson2]

Freedom of speech means that you and your ten loudest buddies can walk into a public library and start screaming at the top of your lungs for hours?

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Actually, they can... but after a while, if they persist after being asked to quiet down or leave, they can be forcibly removed from the property. PERHAPS even charged with disturbing the peace, but NOT likely.

If leos were to try to muzzle them physically however... they would lose their jobs and face civil lawsuits, possibly even criminal charges. YOU CANNOT shut folks up who you don't want to hear. You can go elsewhere, change the channel and on occasion have them removed, but NOT silenced. EVEN if it GREATLY offends the powers that be. That means the majority.

The truth is, YOU have every right to yell fire in a theatre. However, YOU might face legal charges (if anybody believed you and was hurt as a result) but your right to yell is NOT restricted by law. REPERCUSSIONS for disturbing the peace are not the same as muzzling the initial action of offensive free speech.

Goverment is too big. It's priorities out of kilter:

• the fcc needs to be eliminated.
• the department of education needs to be eliminated.
• health and human services, eliminated or severely gutted.
• department of defense... tripled in size and scope for our defense.
• the massive federal police force comes very close to being the 'standing army' of military enforcers living amongst us that the forefathers forbad. We should consider thinning it down, by about 75 percent. Moving essential protection into homeland security and protection from truly FEDERAL crimes on a national scale.

WE need less government, not more.

[FreeReign]

Freedom of speech means that you and your ten loudest buddies can walk into a public library and start screaming at the top of your lungs for hours?

Actually, they can... but after a while, if they persist after being asked to quiet down or leave, they can be forcibly removed from the property. PERHAPS even charged with disturbing the peace, but NOT likely. If leos were to try to muzzle them physically however... they would lose their jobs and face civil lawsuits, possibly even criminal charges. YOU CANNOT shut folks up who you don't want to hear.

So then they can persist, be arrested and charged and then sentenced for disturbing the peace at the public library *or* they can go home to their own private property and scream as loud as they want -- unmuzzled.

Exactly my point. Thanks for making it.