US v RUSSIA

One of the reasons I LOVE the US is demonstrated in two news stories.

In Russia, a three woman punk band played a satiric song on the steps of a famous church. The women were arrested for insulting a religion. They are now on trial after sitting in jail for months. The prosecutors (Putin) is asking for three years in prison for singing a song.

In LA, Joan Rivers chained herself to a shopping cart, screaming that the store would not sell her book due to racy content. (Racy is a word used to mean there is explicit sex.) Even the police were laughing. Joan was not arrested.

When I first started blogging, people would sometimes ask if I thought I could get into trouble. My answer was that I had freedom of speech.

The reason we need freedom of speech is because powerful people do not like being criticized. In order to have freedom of speech work, it has to cover ALL speech, music, movies, books, newspapers, TV, etc. In the US, free speech is not allowed if it causes IMMEDIATE danger to others, like yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. Panicked people can trample other people. Explicit sex is not allowed unless there is socially redeeming content.

Since Joan Rivers thoughts are considered to be socially redeeming, you may draw the conclusion that any coherent thought may be socially redeeming.

In choosing, the courts favor free speech. This is again because one of the best ways to counter an abuse of power is to sing, talk, write, paint, etc. about the misuse of power.

If you want your country to be as good to live in as the US, you MUST have free speech.