tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post5973348704164508421..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Catch of the DayJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-40251335697019803652011-01-11T15:05:43.407-06:002011-01-11T15:05:43.407-06:00"the quarterback situation at Lawndale High&q..."the quarterback situation at Lawndale High"<br /><br />I tried to Google it. What IS the quarterback situation? Is there a link to a good news story you (or a commenter) could provide? Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-70942805631109924712011-01-11T12:52:57.071-06:002011-01-11T12:52:57.071-06:00Interesting to see Serwer draw a contrast between ...Interesting to see Serwer draw a contrast between right wing rhetoric and the proscription against yelling fire in a crowded theater. I was recalling my first encounter with the Constitution, in the waning days of the Cold War, when the caveats to the First Amendment seemed to be regarded with more sanctity then they are today. Perhaps because there was a giant Russkie enemy where speech was suppressed, Americans used to be more aware of, and careful about, the preciousness of our freedoms.<br /><br />When far-right-wing apologists claim that Jared Loughner was likely not influenced by Sarah Palin's gunsite graphic, they are surely correct. Neither that graphic nor any other particular instance of rhetoric is likely to be the straw that broke the camel's back.<br /><br />However, the accompanying argument, that the acts of folks like Loughner are the results of privately feverish brains, such that violent rhetoric in general is irrelevant, is as absurd as being sure the massacre was due to Palin's graphic. Words are powerful, thinking follows language (it doesn't precede it), and so what people hear is surely more important than what they think in their (feverish) brains.<br /><br />In summary, I think folks in general, and extreme rightwing apologists in this particular case, are way too blase about the limits of the First Amendment. Serwer might be wrong about one thing: a person very well might get away with yelling fire in a crowded theater in 21st century America, as long as they found a lawyer, and Fox News, to show that the resulting fatal stampede was started by someone who mistakenly thought they smelled smoke. These days, that's probably good enough.CSHnoreply@blogger.com