TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

The Fourth Amendment At $1 A Person

ADVERTISEMENT

Daniel Ruth

@tampatrib.com

Published: October 19, 2008

"Bigot!" "Prejudiced." "Hateful" "Ignorant." "Meanness." "Visceral hatred!"

And perhaps my favorite one of all - "Young bigot," which, considering I just hit 59, was sorta charming in a twisted kind of way.

The source of all this ire was a column earlier this week taking the Sons of Confederate Veterans to task for putting up an even bigger Confederate flag on a spit of land the clan - oooops, wrong word perhaps - the group owns at the intersection of Interstates 75 and 4.

Uh, has it dawned on anyone that this preoccupation with size on the part of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is beginning to turn this flag kerfuffle into a sorta Civil War phallic symbol? But that's only a guess.

At any rate, many of the irate letter writers who took issue with the flag column insisted on passing along various manifestos on the history of the Civil War. Geez, I think I received more alibis than the Nuremberg defendants.

Common Ground

Then there was this. "Dear Yankee Retard," wrote Russell Wheeler. "I hate to bring you out of your Marx-Lenin coma, but people have a right in a free country to fly a flag on their property when they obey all laws."

Wheeler also included a somewhat scatological conclusion to his letter that would never be confused with the Lewis & Clark diaries.

As well, DixieCol noted: "Patriotism also includes permitting freedom of expression by those with whom you might not agree."

At last! Common ground. If Wheeler and DixieCol had bothered to read the fourth paragraph of the column, they would discover I more than support the First Amendment Rights of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans to fly their flag.

Rather, the point of the column was the ham-handed message the flag sends to tourists, business investors and many black citizens who view the banner as a symbol of hatred and intolerance.

Wait! An Idea!

Turning to the Tampa Sports Authority's chintzy decision to go after Gordon Johnston to recover $4,529 in court costs in the wake of the high school government teacher's constitutional challenge to the National Football League's bogus mandate to impose a pat-down of fans entering Helloooooo Sucker Stadium, the predictably humorless alneri chirped up.

"Pay up, Mr. Johnston - maybe the ACLU which represented the teacher and those who goaded you on (like Mr. Ruth) can help you."

For the record, this space never participated in Johnston's decision to defend his Fourth Amendment rights. But alneri might well have cluelessly stumbled onto an idea.

"I would like to volunteer this: I will contribute financially to offset his legal costs for this," wrote Steffan Cress. "It may not be very much, but what is 'very much' to defend the Constitution?"

Another contributor, my3sons had the same idea, suggesting, "I for one think that if everyone who agrees with Mr. Johnston would give $1, his legal fees would be paid.

"Mr. Johnston is a great example to his students for standing up for his rights."

"Our Constitution is slowly becoming a sheep walk," mused Joseph Abad, a sentiment shared by several other readers.

"Our friend the history teacher, has not only the right to question our government but the responsibility to do so," wrote the charmingly pen-named whasup. "It's terrible they want him to pay for being one of our best citizens."

And with tongue firmly implanted in cheek, Harvey Glass observed: "The idea of citizens standing up for their rights could be an alarming trend.

"Only the socialist/communist fringe of our society would be in sympathy with such disgraceful behavior," Glass wrote. "Hopefully, the action of our Sports Authority will discourage other trouble makers from further subversive action.

"Questioning the authority of government bodies simply should not be tolerated."

Well, one can only hope Gordon Johnston has learned his lesson.

Lastly, scsamoff responded to a recent column on political yard sign vandalism.

"This election season feels different to me in the last few weeks.

"I don't remember Nixon rallies where people shouted to kill Kennedy," scsamoff wrote, betraying his or her age. "I have lost two Obama-Biden signs myself and I will put another one up.

"Respect and civility are being sorely tested this season in our communities," scsamoff continued. "As an American I am excited by the level of engagement by so many.

"I wish that it was for good, not racism, bigotry or hate."

Well, scsamoff, those are thoughtful observations to run up the flagpole.

Keyword: Book of Ruth to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog. Or tune into NewsTalk 820 AM Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m. to listen to his radio show.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT