The Kerry Prankster and Free Speech

A publicity seeking and generally obnoxious Florida student has managed to get his 15 minutes of fame by making a scene during an appearance by Sen. John Kerry. I detailed the incident in this post yesterday. That post drew the following comment from someone identifying themselves only as a Vietnam vet:

What did he have coming? Perhaps you think he should have had his tongue cut out too.

Free speech is our birthright - even when it is delivered in an obnoxious manner. I served my country to preserve that right.

While I appreciate the commenter's service to our country, he unfortunately has an extremely poor knowledge of the right he claims to have fought for and what "free speech" really means. So, for others like him who are Constitutionally-impaired, let's review.

The First Amendment right to free speech refers to political speech and means that you are free to say or write what you will without fear of prosecution for the content of your speech. However, nowhere in the First Amendment is there a right to make your speech under any circumstances whatsoever, and more importantly, it doesn't include a right to be heard. That's an important distinction.

Using the commenter's logic, if I wish to make a political speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, the First Amendment would guarantee me that right. Of course, that's nonsense. We have laws and rules in our society and those who choose to ignore the rules or the authority of law enforcement, as the Kerry Prankster did, will quickly find out that there are in fact limits to where and when you can exercise your right. The police did not Taser the idiot because of the content of his speech, but because he refused to follow the rules. Given the way he acted and resisted, it was fully justified. He will be prosecuted, not because of the content of his words, but because of his actions in violation of the law.

Regarding the nonexistent "right to be heard", many of the Constitutionally-impaired assume that if they wish to exercise their right of free speech, others are required to listen to them, such as the people at the Kerry forum. Not so. All of us retain the right to ignore the idiots of the world, whether they be the Kerry Prankster or John Kerry himself. We cannot be legally compelled to listen to political speech.

Some other idiot student held a press conference claiming that the Kerry Prankster was unlawfully silenced and his rights violated. Nonsense. He had his turn at the mic and decided to abuse the privilege. And then, while screaming like a little girl and fighting the police, he got himself arrested. That's the way it goes in the real world, idiot students, and the sooner you learn that the easier you'll have it once you leave the sheltered life on campus.

I'm all for free speech; I exercise it here everyday. However, it's got to be done within the law or there could be shocking results.