Shouting Fire in a Crowded Theater!
November 17, 2009
A little boy prepares
to create a false alarm!
In the United States Supreme Court case Schenck
v. United States in 1919, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., albeit oft
misquoted, (used in the title above) is credited with creating a reference
that became a popular metaphor in his rendering of an opinion setting out
the limits of free speech.
The example cited, “Shouting fire in a crowded
theater” attempts to define speech which serves no conceivable useful purpose
and is extremely and imminently dangerous. Its consideration as an
inflammatory expression was seen as outside the permissible limitations
on free speech consistent with the language of the First Amendment of the
United States Constitution.
Schenck v. United States was later overturned
and limited by Brandenburg v. Ohio. However the expression remains
synonymous with the original when a speaker is believed to go beyond the
rights guaranteed by free speech, reckless or malicious speech, or an action
whose odious outcomes are blatantly obvious.
Likely you have wondered what has stimulated
yours truly to use this as a frame of reference and what is the relevance
of this questionably valid phrase? Simply stated it came to mind
as a consequence of all the continuing condemnation by the conservatives
concerning President Obama.
I realize that I have created more than a few
entries regarding the surfeit of shameful shots from the ideological starboard.
However, their new verbiage was prompted by the decision of the Department
of Justice to try the 9-11 co-conspirators in criminal court in New York.
In my humble opinion it is way over the top even for the Republicans.
Virtually every available right leaning talking
head and pundit that can fog a mirror has been trotted out to clobber the
concept of anything other than a military tribunal and at any location
outside of our borders. Their common punch line is that our nation
is in the gravest danger and an attack by a terrorist group is not just
eminent but certain.
To play on our fear of an event of the magnitude
of 9-11 is flat wrong. First there is absolutely no evidence that
such an event is even on the horizon. Secondly, following the various
methods authorized by the Neocon’s poster kids (Bush and Cheney) we need
to show the world that we are indeed a civilized nation. Further
we need a clear demonstration for our adversaries that contrary to their
modus operandi and their accusations we do not have to resort to kangaroo
courts to administer justice.
The “Bush Buddies” used a host of clandestine
contrivances trying to avoid the glare of the klieg lights of public opinion.
The use of “enhanced interrogation” (water boarding), renditions (kidnapping)
and who knows what else, surely has given al-Qaida and others plenty of
fuel to stoke the fires of hatred against us.
Trying to scare us into agreeing with their view
against the President I think is shameful and I can only hope that the
more erudite among us will judge their invective in the court of public
opinion. Perhaps if we can demonstrate at every opportunity that
the ultra right aka the Neocons, are detached from reality we can eventually
reach a goal of civility not known in this day and time.
At every opportunity we must be adamant that
their message is the moral equivalent of “Shouting Fire in a Crowded Theater”!
