Remember how ages ago, I mentioned that whenever a discussion about free speech gets going, “some idiot” sooner or later misquotes O.W. Holmes and says that free speech doesn’t mean you can yell “fire” in a crowded theater? When the fact is that you CAN yell “fire” in a crowded theater…provided there’s a fire. What Holmes said you cannot do is falsely shout “fire” in a crowded theater and cause a panic. And furthermore, Holmes’ comment was attached to a decision that had nothing to do with theaters, crowds, fires or panic. It instead supported a horrific lower court abuse of free speech rights, when a socialist named Schenck was jailed for years and heavily fined simply for advocating the notion that the draft was wrong. You remember the draft: It’s that thing they eventually abolished and now when politicians try to make each other look bad, they claim the other guys are talking about bringing it back.
The Holmes-quoted decision not only jailed Schenck, but dozens of other Americans over the following years because it advocated a fundamental concept: Disagreeing with the US government in times of war was a jailable offense.
You’d think people would learn. And yet there, on the “Daily Show” last night, was Zell Miller, discussing freedom of speech and misquoting Holmes, as if misquoting was a good thing. As if a court decision suppressing disagreement with the government was a good thing.
Thank heavens I was not in the audience of the “Daily Show” last night. Because I just KNOW I would have shouted out, “Holmes didn’t say that, you nitwit!” Which probably would have gotten me thrown out of the theater, but hey, it’s better than falsely shouting “fire.”
PAD
• 
Recent Comments