Our first amendment right to free speech includes the right to say things that others disagree with vehemently. Our right to free speech depends on our ability to exercise that right responsibly. This includes putting up with people who don’t think, act, or speak about issues the way we do. However, our right to assemble carries with it the word “peaceably.” We can assemble and protest but our constitutional right only goes so far as assembling peaceably. It does not include showing up in a vehicle and mowing down people with whom we disagree, or throwing body waste at them, or using pepper spray against them, etc. If you cannot assemble peaceably or tolerate the views of others that you disagree with, you createmore problems– the problem that you are agitated about and the likely problem that you will be arrested and/or hurt or further agitated with no resolution. The human race is flawed. Your anger and misuse of freedoms will not change the hearts and minds of others. Our Founders knew that freedom carries with it responsibility. Our constitution does not allow for a free for all. It allows for mature expression, not tantrums. That’s common sense applied to citizenship.
Thoughts on the First Amendment…
