Upon which I SMASH ALL OF THE THINGS

[WilliamPitt]

Memo to every gomer out there who got fucked over by their high school's failure to teach Civics and never bothered to figure this out on your own:

HEY DICKHEAD.

The First Amendment protects your freedom of speech from one (1) thing: GOVERNMENTAL INTERFERENCE with you speaking your mind.

If you go into a bar and bellow NI*GER NI*GER NI*GER FUCKING NI*GER and get your ass handed to you for it, that's not a Free Speech 1st Amendment issue, you fucking useless hopeless dumbfuck dickwad puddle of tepid Fail, because the bar is NOT THE GOVERNMENT. That's the marketplace working it out.

Sterling fans have taken to Twitter with ERMAHGERD HIS FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS gibberish. Read the fucking Bill of Rights, you piddling Derp-riddled reason why we can't have nice things.

The NBA is NOT THE GOVERNMENT.

Your right to free speech ends exactly where I can fuck you up for life in public for being a dumbass.

I am not the government, either. Read a book, you clown car.

Dumb Twitter Users Rage Against Death Of The First Amendment
http://deadspin.com/twitter-users-rage-against-death-of-the-first-amendment-1569415262

[KittyWampus]

1. Epic smiley...

[Rex]

2. Well in all fairness you are talking about morons and idiots galore.

People that would fit right into an Idiocracy world. Probably a lot of near miss Darwin Awards in that group.

[H2O Man]

3. Er, um, uh .....

then it must be in the bible.


Recommended.

[LanternWaste]

4. Further, and contrary to popular half-witted bumper-stickers...

"If you go into a bar and bellow NI*GER NI*GER NI*GER FUCKING NI*GER and get your ass handed to you for it..."

Further (and contrary to popular half-witted bumper-stickers), I don't think I'll ever fight for that guy's right to do so, either.

[kcr]

36. Not even to the death?

Seriously, I'm with you. As soon as I see the words "I may not agree with them.." I know what's coming, and I go into "Gawd, whatever" mode.

[nomorenomore08]

50. If you don't agree with them, then why go so far out of your way to stand up for them?

Not like they're being thrown in jail or tortured or anything. Now that would be real persecution.

I guess in this context, "I may not agree with them..." means "I probably do agree with them but I don't have the guts to say so."

[Dreamer Tatum]

5. Please direct this OP to those who would like his wealth to be confiscated. nt

[gratuitous]

6. Confiscate his wealth? No.

But I think Mr. Sterling shouldn't profit obscenely. Pay him back what he originally paid for the Clippers, adjusted for inflation. Not that lavish CPI inflation those Social Security poshes get; no, the chained-CPI that the wealthy think is good enough for the likes of us.

A little bit of sauce for the ganders, as it were.

[Dreamer Tatum]

9. By whose authority?

Yours? Who "pays him back" and gets to decide how much he is allotted? Under what law? What theory?

Taking one red cent from him on account of his stupidity IS MOST ASSUREDLY a violation of his 1st Amendment rights.

[jeff47]

11. Nope. Again, not the government.

Mr. Sterling has a private contract with the NBA. That contract says what he can do, and what the NBA can do. If the contract says the NBA gets to seize all his wealth, then the NBA gets to seize all his wealth.

The 1st amendment only restrains government. Government is not at all involved in this situation.

[Rex]

13. Right over his head...

WOOOSH!!!

[Dreamer Tatum]

16. Not quite. nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

15. Does it ACTUALLY say that?

Because if it DOESN'T (and it doesn't), some use of force would be required to effect the confiscation of wealth.

And whose force would that be?

Yup. The government.

[Rex]

17. A private business, a binding contract in arbitration - has nothing to do with the government.

Why are you pretending it does?

[Dreamer Tatum]

18. That I agree with.

That wasn't my point.

[Rex]

19. Well then you have one very strange point.

This is just business as usual or do you know something the rest of us don't?

[Dreamer Tatum]

20. I see posts supporting first amendment rights

and then decrying the guy's wealth. One has nothing to do with the other. If someone wants his money taken away, or for him to make no money off the sale, they'll have to point to specific NBA provisions that allow that sort of thing, or they'll have to admit they really don't support free speech.

[Rex]

25. Okay sorry I did not understand your post very well then. My fault.

Okay I see what you are saying now and agree with that - nobody deserves to be forced (illegally by the government) into the poorhouse, just because they are a racist asshole. There has to be laws and regulations involved - if personality entered into it, then half the country would be in trouble I would bet.

He should face whatever financial troubles that were created by his own mouth, whatever legitimate courses of actions those are.

[Dreamer Tatum]

27. EXACTLY

I have no patience for people who cluck about rights, and then attempt to decide what a just punishment should be for something they JUST CLAIMED is protected.

I will go ahead and guess, probably correctly, that the NBA cannot confiscate substantial wealth from an owner. Not without a court battle, anyway.

[Rex]

28. Yeah I bet this ends up in court between million dollar groups of lawyers.

I would also state the NO government has the right to tar and feather any person, 'just because'...THAT is a slippery slope, something we on DU would expect out of a dictator and a nation like Russia.

[WilliamPitt]

43. $2.5M is the maximum fine allowed under NBA rules n/t

[nomorenomore08]

51. And even that would only harm a billionaire symbolically. But the NBA needs to send a message. n/t

[Dreamer Tatum]

31. He will need to sell soon.

The management and players could very well sit next season. No player would ever dog it during the
playoffs, but I can see them boycotting the team until it's sold. That would be a nightmare for the NBA.

[jeff47]

24. Yes, it ACTUALLY says that.

If the contract between Sterling and the NBA authorizes the NBA to impose fines, then the NBA can impose fines.

If Mr. Sterling refuses to pay those fines, the NBA can turn to the courts to enforce the private contract.

The fine is still not imposed by the government, making it not a 1st Amendment violation.

[Dreamer Tatum]

26. You said his contract does say that

then you say "if."

[jeff47]

32. The contract says they can impose fines

That's why they're imposing a $2.5M fine.

The contract also says they get final approval on any sale. They could use that clause to keep him from getting much profit.

[bluedigger]

54. Forcing him to sell his franchise at an artificially imposed lower value would hurt themselves.

Would you want your HOA to force your neighbor to sell his home for $5G because he painted it an unapproved color? Probably not.

[jeff47]

67. If there was an open market for NBA teams, that might be a concern.

But there isn't.

[kmlisle]

35. So speech is money and you agree with the Supremes?

I think other laws would apply here

[Dreamer Tatum]

38. Well, let's hear them.

I'm listening.

[kmlisle]

72. This seems appropriate to the subject

http//

[gratuitous]

60. The NBA; it's theirs to do with as they please

I'm hardly in a position to dictate to a bunch of wealthy greedheads how they handle their affairs. But if the other 29 franchise owners decide to enact a punitive measure on Donald Sterling based on their own rules and by-laws, that's up to them. I'm just offering them a little friendly advice.

After all, by whose authority did the Commissioner of the NBA decide to fine Sterling some pocket change and "ban" him from running the team he owns? So nice, though, that even overrich philandering racists have folks to defend them from the normal and natural consequences of their actions.

[Rex]

7. ...

[BrotherIvan]

22. His poor wealth!

Good thing you're here to defend it!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

65. Oh for shit's sake...

Donald Sterling paid $12.5 million for the Clippers back in 1981. If forced out of the league by the NBA owners, Sterling will likely get somewhere between $600 and $750 million for the franchise.

That would be a profit very nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.

Boo fucking hoo for Donald Sterling...

[Dreamer Tatum]

68. So?

Who's crying for him?

[KamaAina]

8. You did it!

I would have gone with "N****R", but that's just me.

[frazzled]

10. You could start by smashing ...

the caps lock key on your computer. Thanks.

And thank you for stating what everyone here already knew. There's no need for scream headlines.

[Number23]

64. But then, how would his fans know it was really him??

[el_bryanto]

12. "Your right to free speech ends exactly where I can fuck you up for life in public

for being a dumbass."

We are all comfortable with this? While what Sterling said was reprehensible, and it's understandable that the NBA and his team might want to cut him loose for business reasons, that does seem a step to far.

A lot of what made the Red Scare so terrible wasn't just the Government going after people, it was independent red-baiting organizations and local chamber of commerces.

Bryant

[WilliamPitt]

14. We?

You got a mouse in your pocket?

You're a member of DU, an online community that exposes and calls out stupid every minute of every day.

Look around.

[el_bryanto]

23. Nobody at DU has ever fucked me up for life though.

Maybe they have and I haven't noticed it. That is a pretty evocative phrase isn't it?

Bryant

[WilliamPitt]

30. Evocative phrases

is what I do.

Would you say that Sterling is now fucked for life to a degree?

[jeff47]

34. Nope.

Would you say that Sterling is now fucked for life to a degree?

Nope.

He's got plenty of money left. Which means plenty of people will happily kneel before him.

[WilliamPitt]

39. I wish him well of it.

If money actually bought happiness, there wouldn't be so many hateful rich folks swinging their gold-plated lead pipes at people in our public sphere.

He has been paid in the coin of public shame. He was already rich, so the fine/sale is irrelevant.

And P.S. Getting pissed about the fine only displays rank ignorance about deep-down racism. They could fine this dickslap ten billion dollars, and you think he'd suddenly awaken to a new understanding? No, he won't. EVER. The money doesn't matter, because no amount of money will change his mind. He has, however, been purged from the institution he was polluting with his presence. The only thing that will cure our culture of this kind of racism is already in place: mortality. These fucks, quite simply, have to die off. There is no other cure for calcified racism beyond death. Fining the fucks only reinforces the martyr syndrome this turd will wrap himself in...until he is wrapped in his shroud.

[defacto7]

66. Oh if simple death was an answer...

but then there's the fact that they breed... the children, the grand children that they taught, the generations just go on and on. Sterilization maybe?

I'm not being serious, but dieing off hasn't worked. That's been going on for ???? ever?

As trite as it sounds it's education that matters, but that is a commodity that just can't stand up to entertainment these days. Educations costs time, effort, money and most of all facts. Entertainment makes money, there's no effort, and facts are just an annoyance.

I don't have the answer to the dilemma.

[el_bryanto]

46. If you had said Sterling is fucked for life and he deserves it

I'd probably agree. You move from that to a larger argument about non-governmental attacks on freedom of speech. I understand the argument that the Constitution doesn't protect freedom of speech from private attacks on it; but I don't think that makes private attacks on free speech acceptable.

Bryant

[hfojvt]

41. not me

I am not a big fan of hate speech.

I generally don't call people "gomer" or a "fucking useless hopeless dumbfuck dickwad puddle of tepid Fail".

Especially not if they have only said something that other people are calling "hateful".

It's popular here though, much to my chagrin.

[lillypaddle]

45. Well, the shoe fucking fits

perfectly.

[hfojvt]

57. what if somebody just THINKS it fits?

after all, isn't this basically what the Nazis thought about the Jews? That they were "fucking useless hopeless dumbfuck dickwad puddle of tepid Fail"

There are not too many people that I would say fit that description, and I think they would have to DO something awful rather than just SAY something awful.

Something like this guy

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/02/21/4839630/suspect-in-springfield-child-abduction.html

HE is an (expletives deleted) puddle of tepid fail. Somebody who defends Sterling's right to free speech? Not even close to the same league.

Although the odd part about that guy is that, at age 46, he apparently was NOT always like that. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/20/missouri-missing-girl-accused-killer/5655831/

I mean, after 45 years of seemingly normal life, just one day he is driving down the street and sees a little girl and thinks "hey, I am gonna kidnap, rape and kill her. That's always been on my bucket list."

Or did he spend many years thinking murderous and evil thoughts, but pushing it down, keeping it hidden, until one day he lost control of his inner demons?

[lillypaddle]

71. This guy has done plenty awful

Not sure what your point is -- your post makes little sense to me, especially in defense of this bigot. Seems like a big stretch to me.

[hfojvt]

74. "in defense of this bigot"

Yes, yes, I know. Sterling is the latest witch who has been hunted up by the M$M. Anybody who does not join in casting aspersions at him is probably a witch too, or at least a witch-lover.

And therefore also an (expletive deleted) puddle of tepid fail.

Funny about Sterling, I just read the other day that the NAACP gave him a lifetime achievement award in 2009.

And they were scheduled to give him another one this year

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/clippers/2014/04/28/donald-sterling-clippers-naacp-alice-huffman/8411441/

Whatever bad things Sterling was doing must have been so hidden that the NAACP did not realize they were giving an award to a witch.

If this post makes little sense, read it again with the word "bigot" used instead of "witch".

[lillypaddle]

76. He had given The NAACP

a ton of money, after he was sued for discrimination based on race in his real estate dealings, and was attempting to rehabilitate his image and reputation. The NAACP should be ashamed for accepting the money. Regardless, I'm done with you. IMHO, you should choose your battles more wisely.

(snip)

ESPN host Bomani Jones is very familiar with Sterling's history of racism. Back in 2006, the sports writer and pundit wrote a column titled "Sterling's racism should be news" following the Department of Justice suing Sterling for housing discrimination. Sterling allegedly refused to rent apartments he owned to African Americans, Latinos and people with children in the suit and, though he denied the charges, agreed to a settlement of $2.765 million in 2009. A separate housing discrimination lawsuit dates back to 2003. (snip) More at link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/bomani-jones-donald-sterling_n_5233565.html

[hfojvt]

77. my battle is against evil

but wouldn't you know it, I cannot find my copy of "Mother Night".

Yeah, it is tilting at a windmill trying to convince an angry mob to put down their haterade.

But like JFK said - every man should try.

[LanternWaste]

79. I think you're confusing one's own bigotry being outed with "Sterling is the latest witch...

I think you're confusing one's own bigotry being outed publicly with "Sterling is the latest witch who has been hunted up by the M$M (sic)."

[lame54]

21. If you did have your ass handed to you...

those doing the handing are breaking the law by physically assaulting you

if the bar tells you to leave and don't come back - that's not violating you at all

Now - walking into that bar and shouting that may result in an ass handing with no witnesses - not recommended

[spanone]

33. well, he was free to say what he said and america is free to tell him to fuck off.

so is the NBA

[Maven]

37. Yep. Same goes for the erstwhile Brendan Eich supporters on DU

[DinahMoeHum]

40. Speech is free. Consequences are not.

n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

42. That's up there with: "You Libs are supposed to be NICE!!!"....

As you kick their asses over their blindly repeating The Bush Crime Family lies.

[lillypaddle]

44. Amen

Well said, especially the part about " you fucking useless hopeless dumbfuck dickwad puddle of tepid Fail."

[Aldo Leopold]

47. Is good.

Thanks for the laugh (and for the timely civics lesson)!

[New Orleans Strong]

55. In which I dream that the very Mr. Pitt...

...is a Top Commentator on C.P. Pierce's Blog. Oh!! The fun. Thank you William Pitt for everything you write - Delish.

[DesertDiamond]

48. I love this for what it says, and for all the new insults I learned today. Clown car? ROFL!!!

[DeSwiss]

49. I understand your anger Will.......

...but you have to remember, these are morons. And as we all know by now: ''A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.'' Here, we can see why that's true. But in the end, it is a lot of hollering and gnashing of teeth, signifying the last dreg's attempt to hold-off change. They can't deal with it and must be swept along with it.

And so they shall, just give it time.

- Ignorance is its own punishment.

K&R
[center]

What did you expect?
"Welcome, sonny"?
"Make yourself at home"?
"Marry my daughter"?
You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers.
These are people of the land.
The common clay of the new West.
You know... morons.
[/center]

[randys1]

52. I see we suffer from the same problem

shyness

Yes, if you are a right-winger, you are a complete total fucking moron.

Unless you are rich and are a greedy motherfucker, but you cant be middle class and republican and smart, cant do it.

And as to freedom of speech, you can say whatever the fuck you want you stupid fucking rightwing moron, but if I dont like it I can boycott your NBA team or your website or whatever and unless the GUBBMINT tells you NO you cant say that, you dont have a free speech issue you dumb fuck you.

(If I can find a community college class on Assertiveness, I will let you know and we can both take it)

and one more thing, on behalf of Jordan Davis,

TURN THE MOTHERFUCKING MUSIC UP!

[pinto]

53. LOL.

Bluntly on point.

[progressoid]

56. Paula Deen, the Duck Dynasty Douche, and now Donald Sterling.

They're all OPPRESSED!

[hopemountain]

58. let mr. sterling take the bravado

with which he so readily ranted his condescending, racist, hateful and mysogynist attack at his mixed heritage girlfriend and face the
consequences. he did all of this to himself and his karma is being served.

[Gothmog]

59. The First Amendment only applies to State Actors

I share the OP's frustration. The First Amendment does not apply to this case at all. Only an idiot would be making the claim that Sterling's First Amendment rights were violated.

[Shandris]

61. And that's a perfectly legitimate philosophy as long as society agrees with us.

I suppose we'd better hope we never get taken by surprise on an issue, huh. The danger in this kind of thing isn't what's happening to some racist bastard no one likes and who deserves everything he gets, it's what happens when a conservative inevitably returns to power with some social backing. Only an -idiot- would think it will never happen again.

Relying on social power alone is a good way to end up under the guillotine when the mobs inevitably turn.

[Agnosticsherbet]

62. Sterling is suffering the wrath of capitalism...

His racist comments threatens the profits of every NBA owner.

His fellow owners do not take lightly a threat to the obscene profits they take from their sports franchises.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

63. I enjoyed the creative insults and fist shaking.

Made me lulz

[IronLionZion]

69. His money and his young mistress didn't bring him happiness

especially since she was palling around with black basketball stars and his wife is suing. The dude is his own punishment. Yet somehow, I bet he will make millions by selling the team.

It won't make him happy though. He doesn't look like a happy camper.

[vlakitti]

70. This is a great thread

Thanks, Mr. Pitt. It was a lot of fun throughout and many of the comments were hilatious.

Kicking the really evil in the testicles is always a job worth doing.

[Ilsa]

73. Mike & Mike on ESPN covered this.

Actually, Mike Greenberg, the Jewish half of that team, explained it Monday morning. But since he's on cable, he used nicer language.

[n2doc]

75. It is all about the dollars

The NBA was facing millions of dollars in lost ad revenue and sponsorship deals. That is the main driving force nowadays.

If any of us said something that cost our employer significant money, we all know what would happen. Sterling is just a larger case, and just because he owns a team doesn't mean he is the highest boss.

[Orsino]

78. Not just the government.

The government is also obligated to protect your right to speech from other entities who would interfere.

Not to shield you from criticism, of course, but consequences that would chill that right are indeed in the government's bailiwick.

[haele]

80. Well, he's been pulling this sort of shit for the past 25 years -

Ever since he's been an owner, most of the players bail as soon as they become free agents because of his egotistical 'baggery and the only non-draft pick players his team could usually get were the guys no other team would sign.
The Clippers had suffered for the longest time because he had his good-ol'-boy front office filled with sycophants and weak coaches who would bail as soon as they found out he was a major; neither group would stand up for the players when he'd play his plan"big house/field hands" games. Doc Rivers was an anomaly - a buffer between him and "his team" and had really pulled the Clippers around.

The question the player's union has always had was "Where was the NBA when he was pulling this shit earlier?"
Other owners had been fined for pulling similar crap; Sterling, a "big-shot lawyer" and real estate investor long known for racist and misogynist attitudes before he bought the Clippers hid behind his money and the cachet those millions - now billions gave him.

Haele

[mrsadm]

81. I want one of those flamethrowers :-)

[riverbendviewgal]

82. I bet your high school never taught Citizen based Taxation which is what the USA uses as

opposed to Resident based Taxation which the rest of the world uses.

New laws (FATCA) are now causing problems for Americans who live and work abroad. Some Americans who lived in other countries and are citizens of those countries for decades all their lives.

Did you know if you were a border baby , born in a USA hospital and only was in the USA during that time in the hospital when your were born and your Canadian parents took you back the next few days after your birth to grow up, go to school and work only in Canada - you must file US taxes for the rest of your life?

All green card holders as well, even when they leave. And some snowbirds. They must file US taxes and report all t heir bank accounts where they live.... The US considers them foreign even though they are in the not American town they live in.


I know for a fact this was never taught in the US educational system in the 60s.

I don't think one should be taxed where one does not live and one is a citizen of another country , such as Canada.

I know many of DUrs think I am a asshole.