Idiots

Thankfully some states are now creating the needed legislation to prevent right wing religio-nuts like Rev. Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS from expressing his profoundly ignorant viewpoints at the burial services for American military personnel. Phelps - an ignoramus without peer, and his cult followers, actually picket military funerals, holding signs with such messages as "Thank God for IEDs" and "God Hates Fag Enablers." They say God is punishing America for tolerating gays.

Governors in South Dakota and Wisconsin signed laws this month restricting funeral protests. At least 13 states are considering such laws, plus Kansas may expand its existing ban. The Wisconsin law bans protests within 500 feet of a funeral before, during and after the service.

Gov. Jim Doyle says Phelps and his followers "have a constitutional right to state their opinion, as totally bizarre as this one is. But the families have a right to a time in which they can grieve and express their admiration and respect for these fallen soldiers."

David Hudson, an attorney at the First Amendment Center, says a key issue is whether family privacy is a compelling reason to restrict speech. "The courts are obviously going to have to sort this out," he says.

Reprehensible as Phelps actions are, the First Amendment does give him the right to express his warped viewpoint. Like the Neo-Nazis discussed in an earlier Human Stain article, to say Phelps and his acolytes have brains the size of walnuts would be giving them too much credit.
Posted on The Human Stain