First Amendment

I'm still working on this, but decided to post it anyway so no one can accuse me of slacking or missing a day. :) 

First Amendment

Who gets to decide the

Best practice for protesting?

Best practice for judging a protest?

Best practice for exercising free speech?

Best practice for deciding when free speech goes too far?

Judges,

in a court of law,

if it gets that far.

Who gets to have an opinion

on all of the above?

All of us.

How loud can we get?

How personal?

How vicious?

We go as far as we can

because we all have the freedom

to voice our opinion.

Freedom to speak,

Guaranteed by the First Amendment.

The wording is a bit funky,

Old-fashioned terminology and phrasing.

Congress shall make no law ABRIDGING

The freedom of speech,

Or of the press,

Or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.

Knowing that we have the right to speak out

is not the same as knowing when or how

to do it effectively.

Do most of us speak out publicly?

No.

But those who do seem fearless

to those of us who prefer to watch from the sidelines.

Sometimes those who speak out

May seem crazy,

Over zealous,

Maniacal

To those of us who choose to remain

Silent.

Spectators.

Judging.

We may be

Self conscious

Undecided

Private.

But in the privacy of our home

at a keyboard

where no one can see us,

We can voice

Opinions.

We state

Facts as we know them.

We repeat

Hearsay.

We are ruled by our

Emotions.

And we criticize

the other side

Because we don’t think they are on our side.

The irony is,

Most of us want the same thing,

To be happy, fulfilled, safe.

And if we fear something will disrupt our perfect world,

We are not happy.

We don't feel fulfilled.

We don't feel safe.

We might get a little angry,

We might get a littler vengeful,

We might get a little vocal,

We might, we might, we might

Go too far.

And it is our right to go as far as we want to

By speaking

By writing

By marching

By demonstrating our feelings and beliefs.

Freedom of speech

Freedom to assemble

Freedom to disagree

Freedom to agree

Freedom to ignore

Freedom to get involved

Free, free, free,

We live in the land of the free.

Hypocrite essay in verse

After writing what I posted earlier today, I sat back and thought about whether I was being judgemental and hypocritical.

Sometimes I don’t follow my own advice.

Distance provides perspective

Wait

Cool off

Vent but don’t send.

Did I do that?

Partially.

Well, I wrote it out.

I read it through and edited before sending,

BUT,

Did I give myself enough distance?

  No.

Did I cool off?

  No.

Did I vent?

  Yes.

Did I send too early?

  yes.

I wrote, I read, I edited.

Heat of the moment

Rather than cool.

So now I wonder

Am I a hypocrite?
Did I judge

And cast stones?

Did I go too far

Did I do what I accuse other people of doing?

Today’s questions to ponder

Rather than “What is the meaning of life?”

I am wondering,

“What is the meaning of free speech?”

“What is too far and who gets to judge?”

Am I a hypocrite?
  A little.

Did I go too far?
  No.

I didn’t pick on anyone by name

I didn’t post a derogatory photo.

I didn’t post anything that would incite violence or harm.

Free speech determinations

Are beyond the scope of a poem

Or an essay

By an average lay person.

Free speech is a right,

But there are restrictions.

Determining those restrictions

Is left up to

The judiciary.

The closest thing to an impartial body that we have.

Their role is to interpret the Consitution

Based on the rule of law.

Of course, those interprettions,

I.e., decisions

Become the next case’s rule of law,

So being a judge

Is a rather weighty thing.

We talk about higher authority

In religious and spiritual terms.

In the case of free speech and other Constitutional rights,

Religion is supposed to be irrelevant.

After all, we are a nation of people

and a nation of religious liberty.

In God we trust and under God.

Hm.

May God bless the United States of America

Hm. I looked up where that started as a presidential speech thing.

Uh oh.

According to the HuffPost:

The first president to say it was Richard Nixon, who dropped the phrase during an attempt at damage control for the burgeoning Watergate scandal on April 30, 1973. “Tonight, I ask for your prayers to help me in everything I do throughout the days of my presidency,” he said. “God bless America and God bless each and every one of you.”

Oh my.