How much you wanna bet this bill doesn't include the Phelpies?

[Montauk6]

As he observes Memorial Day today, President Bush is expected to say more sacrifices may be needed in Iraq.

At Arlington National Cemetery, Bush will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Bush is also signing a bill this morning that bars protesters from some military funerals.

Americans around the country will be attending parades and ceremonies today that will honor the nation's war dead.

Other Memorial Day traditions include barbecues and beaches. Hot and humid conditions are expected in many areas, with temperatures reaching the 90's along the East Coast.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060529/ap_on_go_pr_wh/memorial_day_1

[eallen]

1. Actually, it was aimed at the Phelpies.

The ACLU is challenging the bill for overly broad wording.

[Montauk6]

4. Ahhhhh... so these maniacs ARE making the GOP look bad, eh?

[eallen]

9. You nailed it. Of course, that was sort of a gimme.

[Montauk6]

16. Only thing that's goofy is the timing

I mean, we're coming up to midterm elections, the consovietives are gonna be desperate as hell trying to convince voters that they still have some redeemable value. The last thing you'd think they'd want to do is alienate their gay-bashing constituency.

[sharp_stick]

2. It will include Phelps and his inbred clan of clowns

That asshole is the only military funeral protester that I have ever seen. Phelps is the reason for the bill and I for one wonder what in the hell took so long.

[Gatchaman]

5. I know I'm playing into their hands here

but I would have loved it if the bill specifically prohibited fred phelps and any member of his family or "church" from protesting funerals.

[atreides1]

7. Remember the First Amendment

It applies to those like Phelps as well as those who protest against "Free Speech Zones", this is a bad law because it can be expanded to include those who protest against the administration.

Be careful what you wish for, it just might turn around and bite you in the a**.

As for myself, I support the ACLU in fighting against this "law", and will even make a donation to them.

[Imagine My Surprise]

12. I agree...it's the dilemma of having to support a Nazi speech...

sucks, but that's OUR freedom, too.

[blondeatlast]

14. America is up to the challenge free-speech envelope pushers like Phelps

present to us.

I absolutely agree.

That being said, I think Phelps is a cretin of the worst order and as much as I abhor violence, karma's a bitch and I expect she's going to give Phelps a taste of it in the form of the wrong grieving family member someday.

And I won't be any the sadder for it.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

10. They made sure the bill sounds like anti-war protesters...

are disrupting funerals. I think the real reason for trying to stop Phelps's people is that they do the same thing that Bull Connor and the racists during the 50s did - make the majority of people think their hatred is evil and wrong. And we can't have that when it's an election year and Gay Marriage is going to ride to the rescue again!

[blondeatlast]

17. I noticed that too. I find it incresingly difficult to believe that

tax-exempt think=tank interns aren't writing an awful lot of the crap I read.

That damn piece sounds more like PR than news.

But then that isn't unusual anymore.

[Warpy]

3. Phelps is all about eroding free speech

not anything else. I would dearly love to see his books opened, to find out just where the money for all his traveling is coming from. My best guess says that Scaife is in there somewhere, along with other prominent Straussians.

Stupid just did what he wanted to, another restriction on our civil right to voice an opnion, a restriction that will be upheld by the corrupt assholes appointed to the USSC by the Straussian GOP.

This is a scam, and our rights are what they're after, not Phelps.

[SmokingJacket]

8. YES.

I believe you're right about this. A lot of people have been saying that Phelps makes the repubs look bad, but you know, he actually makes your average garden variety bigot look positively MAINSTREAM!

Something changed when he started protesting military funerals, instead of just gay funerals, and I suspect it was an influx of money from somewhere.

[Ian David]

6. It shouldn't be just MILITARY funerals, but ALL funerals...

but otherwise, the law should be as narrowly defined as possible.

For example, in order to qualify as a "funeral" there should actually be a body present awaiting burial. Otherwise, political rallies and speeches could be called a "memorial service" for the sole purpose of excluding counter-protesters.

All this is doing is telling Phelps, "Leave us alone and go back to bothering the gays."

[LiberalFighter]

11. It will probably be over ruled under Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

[Tarc]

20. That dog won't hunt

Can you yell "FIRE!" in a crowded theatre?
Can you march in a parade if the town/city denies your permit?
Can you write a book about Dubya snorting coke of a hooker's backside while wearing a KKK uniform?
Can you tell your boss that he/she can go to hell?
Can you stand in front of the President's motorcade as it drives down the street?

The literal answer is "yes" of course, but once you are arrested/sued/fired, pleading "freedom of speech!" will get you nowhere at all.

What this bill does is simply create a buffer zone around federal cemeteries when there is a military funeral underway. There is nothing at all illegal or unconstitutional about that.

[RUMPLEMINTZ]

13. I had some wingnut

try and tell me that this Phelps guy was a delegate for Al Gore in his 1988 run for president. Can anyone help me slap this a**hole down?

[Keefer]

15. A quick Google search...

and I found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps_Jr.

Fred Phelps Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Fred Phelps Jr. (born 1953 in Tucson, Arizona) is the eldest son of cult leader Fred Phelps, and a member of his father's Westboro Baptist Church. During the late 1980s he was a political ally of Al Gore and served as a delegate for Gore at a Democratic National Convention. <1>...

[RUMPLEMINTZ]

18. So, it was the son

and not the wacked out father?

[newyawker99]

22. Hi Keefer!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Joe Bacon]

19. Oh, I just wish Mr Phelps would self-destruct in 10 seconds

So sick of this drivel!

[ComerPerro]

21. Bet he won't protect the families of homosexuals and AIDS victims

[MadHound]

23. Phelps is serving his purpose well

He is so outrageous that now there's a law limiting free speech outside military funerals. So now Phelps is taking his freak show to the memorial services the night before the funeral. How long before there's a law banning that free speech? But hey, that won't deter Phelps and his merry band of trolls, they'll just start protesting the motorcades that are carrying the bodie of servicemen and women back home. At least until there's a ban on protesting motorcades. And on and on this will go until there's little or nothing left of our freedom of speech.

Yeah, Phelps is doing his job, slowly but surely shutting down our right to free speech in this country.