Because of my respect for the United States Constitution, and in particular the First Amendment to that document, which provides for freedom of speech and a free press, I find myself called upon to make a philosophical sacrifice. Like many patriotic acts, this is an unpleasant task, but as an American, I have to do it.
I rise now in defense of the stupid.
Consider the case of West Philadelphia’s Andre Moore, a 44-year old former security guard at Einstein Medical Center. Moore made a home video in which he waved around a semi-automatic handgun, showed viewers how to load and shoot it, and gleefully yet profanely called for the wanton murder of Philly police officers, particularly officers in West Philly’s 18th District.
Moore got his 12-year old son to shoot the video, and posted it on You Tube, the Internet’s top file sharing program. In almost no time, Philadelphia Police and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office had the video, and took swift action.
Last week, Moore got an early morning visit from the Gun Violence Task Force – courtesy of a battering ram through his front door. He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, corruption of minors, terroristic threats and harassment.
Will the charges stick? That remains to be seen. There are First Amendment issues at play here, and attorneys will argue whether Moore has a Constitutional right to say whatever stupid thing he likes.
Leave aside the legal conundrum for a moment and think about simple decency, common sense, and yes, outright stupidity. If you post such videos in the public domain, what reaction do you expect from the authorities? Did Moore think police and the Attorney General don’t have Internet access? Or perhaps they’re willing to look the other way when someone waves a gun and calls for unbridled cop killing?
Simple decency dictates that even if you harbor an absolute hatred for the police, you don’t teach those values, and the use of firearms to carry out the deed, to your 12-year old child. Common sense tells you that a guy with a job he wants to keep, and a family he cares for, doesn’t post a “kill the cops” video for the world to see. And if you post such a video, especially in a city where recent cop killings have everyone on edge, only the genuinely stupid would expect anything other than a battering ram through the door and lots of guns in your face.
A 44-year old man with a job and a family to feed is not supposed to be that stupid. It’s not as if he’s some teenage tough guy, fueled by gangsta rap videos and mistaken ideas of manhood. At his age, it’s not just stupid, it’s embarrassing. His wife, Tamara, said as much in a newspaper interview after his arrest.
“I knew nothing about any of this,” she said. “Me, my son and our family are very much humiliated by the act Andre did. Whatever happens to him, happens. My job is being jeopardized because of this.”
Einstein Medical Center also joined the line to throw Moore under the bus. Citing the fact that Moore apparently lied about a previous arrest on his job application, the hospital jettisoned him like dead weight after his arrest.
Well, Andre, I won’t abandon you. Even though your actions disgust me as a father, a Philadelphian, and an American, I’ve got your back. I happen to believe that you have a God-given and constitutionally protected right to be as stupid as you want to be.
After all, the Aryan Nation, Stormfront, and a thousand other hate mongers are allowed to spread their vile message via the Internet, and their calls for the wholesale slaughter of minorities, Jews, gays and others are simply ignored by authorities as the rantings of the lunatic fringe.
Televangelist Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, a Fox News analyst suggested that Barack Obama should be shot, and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee quipped that a loud noise offstage during his speech to the National Rifle Association might be Obama ducking out of the line of fire.
All the above violators were allowed to apologize and move on to the next stupid comment. Were they guilty of making terroristic threats? We’ll never know, because they weren’t arrested for it.
The idea of the First Amendment freedoms isn’t to protect speech with which we agree, but speech that causes most of us to recoil in horror. Even the stupid need protection, if only from themselves.
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