Westborough Baptist Church - free speech.

[henryp]

I don't believe in free speech.  I'd be very comfortable with Westboro Baptist people being banned/jailed.  Unfortunately, given how comfortable people in power have been throughout history removing freedom when given an opening, we have to go beyond reasonable free speech to this absurd nonsense we have now to keep any threat to it at bay.

Joe Rogan is one of a group of comedians (Burr, CK, Seinfeld come to mind as others) who have a detached practicality when looking at the world.  We've been brainwashed pretty solid on UNLIMITED FREE SPEECH IS SUPER IMPORTANT.  But for someone like Rogan, I'm guessing there's the nagging voice that looks at it practically, and recognizes that this particular situation is bullshit.  And it is.

There is no polite way to say it, this is a stupid attitude. I have been warning my well intended friends on the left that BULLSHIT PC will be turned on us and used against us.

Fla Gov Rick Scott has passed a law basically making it illegal to tell fuckface science deniers they are wrong. Why, because of  like you thinking "kumbia" will fix things. 

You don't have to like the bigotry and ignorance of the religious right, you should fight it yes. But what you forget is that power shifts over time, and if you start saying "Never say this ever" the other side is going to pull that shit on you. So now if you pick on a creationist who believes that the earth is 6 days old you can get sued or fired.

Free speech is vital to a free society. The only things that are illegal that everyone can agree on are no calls to violence or acts of violence. Outside that it is a stupid idea to give government the power to decide what is or is not offensive.

Speech can only be regulated on a case by case "it depends" bases. Blanket solutions are never a good idea.

You don't defend assholes like Fred Phelps because you like what they say, you defend the long term picture so that you can say what you want. Facts can also be destroyed long term too, like allowing kids to be told bullshit because they hide behind the word religion.

I have the same general conclusion as you, which I stated in the 3rd sentence and bolded.  

Where I think we divege, is that I don't defend Phelps in any capacity.  His stuff is just a flaw in the system.  It's an unfortunate side effect.  Not something to look at in any positive light.  I don't see it as "Look how free we are!  Isn't it amazing!"  Instead, i see it as "This is the shit we have to put up with, because humans are too fucked up to be trusted."