Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Holmes Dissenting in Abrams v. United States, 1919


This is a really interesting dissenting opinion. And it's well worth reading. 

"Persecution for the expression of opinions seems to me perfectly logical. If you have no doubt of your premises or your power and want a certain result with all your heart you naturally express your wishes in law and sweep away all opposition. To allow opposition by speech seems to indicate that you think the speech impotent, as when a man says that he has squared the circle, or that you do not care whole heartedly for the result, or that you doubt either your power or your premises. But when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas-that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That at any rate is the theory of our Constitution. It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment. Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge. While that experiment is part of our system I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country. I wholly disagree with the argument of the Government that the First Amendment left the common law as to seditious libel in force. History seems to me against the notion. I had conceived that the United States through many years had shown its repentance for the Sedition Act of 1798 (Act July 14, 1798, c. 73, 1 Stat. 596), by repaying fines that it imposed. Only the emergency that makes it immediately dangerous to leave the correction of evil counsels to time warrants [250 U.S. 616, 631] making any exception to the sweeping command, 'Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.' Of course I am speaking only of expressions of opinion and exhortations, which were all that were uttered here, but I regret that I cannot put into more impressive words my belief that in their conviction upon this indictment the defendants were deprived of their rights under the Constitution of the United States."

https://firstamendmentwatch.org/history-speaks-holmes-dissenting-abrams-v-united-states-1919/

You can also hear the deeper cut of this story on a RadioLab episode:




Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone. 

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Up With People - Freedom Isn't Free

Back in the 70s and early 80s, Up With People achieved some national acclaim. I had s teacher in middle school who was friends with the founder/director, so they were at least popular in my school. 

When we’d do musical productions, they would often include at least one song from the repertoire. And we learned the words to many songs. 

Lately, this one has been running through my head. 

You gotta pay the price. You gotta sacrifice for your liberty. 

Wear a damn mask. And get vaccinated. 

Saturday, July 31, 2021

Commentary: Simone Biles was abandoned by U.S. Olympic officials, and the torment hasn’t stopped | The Seattle Times

Makes you think….

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/simone-biles-was-abandoned-by-american-olympic-officials-and-the-torment-hasnt-stopped/


Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.

Transgender weight lifter

Interesting read

https://sports.yahoo.com/a-transgender-weightlifter-will-make-history-at-the-olympics-is-her-inclusion-fair-223430503.html


Sent from my iPad

Life imitates art (in a clueless way)

Watched this clip and thought about how stupid these healthcare workers are. Then, at 1:38, one of them says something about opinions:  

... and I could only laugh as I thought about this exchange on the big bang theory:

It’s played for laughs, as the mother character says something so stupid that no one can take it seriously.

Truly, talking to these holdouts and anti vaxxers is like the comedy hour.





Saturday, July 24, 2021

Auburn’s new football coach raising alarms

We need to see more of this kind of reporting. The message has to be clear: get vaccinated. Adding "dumbass" is optional.

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2021/07/auburns-new-football-coach-raising-alarms.html


Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.