Prickly City by Scott Stantis for March 25, 2023

Look at the people they vote for.

When I use free speech, I get my mouth washed out with soap.

No one is a free speech absolutist. That’s just the latest fad for posers.

“Tell the people the truth, and the country will be saved.” (Lincoln, approximately — I don’t recall the exact quote)

Unfortunately, the stupid became the new pandemic with the election of Raygun Ronnie in 1980.

Although the First Amendment might seem at first glance simple and obvious, the idea of free speech took a while to work out. Witness the jailing of newspapermen during the Adams administration. John Stuart Mill took giant steps defining the concept but we are still and will ever be working out the necessary limits and practical parameters.

Free speech absolutists also seem to think it should be consequence free too. So that lying, hateful, endangering speech is “okay” in their book.

Nope. Though in this case, I would say Carmen’s not wrong.

Too many people misunderstand, some intentionally, that in the US free speech means that the government cannot prosecute you for your speech (except in certain types of speech).

Free speech does not mean that you cannot be held accountable for your speech by the other people or private businesses. Ex. you can express your hate for the president without fear of prosecution. However, if you express your hate for the CEO of the private business you work for, it does not mean that they cannot fire you. Neither does it mean that you can post anything you want in on-line forums such as twitter or Fb. You agree to certain terms of service for use of their platform, and if you violate them your account can be terminated.

Other countries laws may or may not have the same limitations & restrictions.

Fire in a crowded theater? Child porn? Slander? Libel?

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt” – dubiously attributed to Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, John Maynard Keynes, and others.

So, what happens after they demonstrate their stupidity?

I don’t disagree. The problem is not what people are saying. The problem is we have too many of them. Not being funny; our planet is over-populated on all 6 continents (No, not counting Antarctica). We need to thin our numbers a bit.

Just look to your right, then separate truer conservatives from the right-wing populists and voila.

MTG and her ilk prove the last panel everyday.

So that’s why we have to hear the cretins-greene and bobert-so often. They are a constant reminder of how ignorant they are and also that they do not stand for democratic values.

“I truly believe I would have rushed in there, even without a weapon.”

Sadly, too many stupid people today insist upon demonstrating their stupidity – loudly and often – in public… whether the rest of us want to know or not…

Not stupid people DANGEROUS ONES Carmin.

For examples, you need only look at how people post in social media. This includes how they avoid answering reasonable questions.

1. Emotional responses to factual questions rather than, you know, answers.

2. Personal attacks on the person who asked factual questions.

3. Subject changes — “whataboutism”, personal criticisms of people or institutions, completely new topic, etc. — instead of addressing the issue.

4. Silence in response to factual questions.

5. Use of other logical fallacies — strawman arguments, etc. — instead of rational arguments.

I’m reeeealy looking forward to seeing the replies to this.

I expect a mix of rational responses and examples of the above, skewed towards examples.

But I’m hoping for rational responses, including perhaps some descriptions of additional categories.