Freedom of Speech

By Michelle Giametta on 08/10/2009

Last time I checked, freedom of speech and the right to protest were two very fundamental rights for American citizens. So why is it that when a photo surfaced depicting President Obama as the Joker, a villain from the infamous Batman movies, there was so much public outrage? While it may be distasteful and disrespectful to portray the president of the United States in such an evil light, there is no law against doing so.

Besides, where was all of this public outcry when President Bush was portrayed as this very same villain? Since when do we condemn Americans or anyone for that matter for expressing peacefully what they believe?

Apparently the answer is now since Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson, publicly stated, "Depicting the president as demonic and a socialist goes beyond political spoofery, it is mean-spirited and dangerous. We have issued a public challenge to the person or group that put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this offensive depiction to ridicule President Obama."

Yet, what is so dangerous about these posters? The only danger I see here is a growing trend of intimidation by people like Hutchinson who can't handle opposing viewpoints. Whether you consider yourself a Republican or Democrat it's time to stand up for the American right to speak our minds and exercise our right to protest.

Recently many Americans have taken action to try and stop the new Health Care Bill in Congress - protesting at town hall meetings and flooding their local congressmen and women with phone calls demanding an end to the bill which many fear will replace private insurance with a government controlled system.

An article written for the Associated Press reported that, "Senate's most powerful Democrat on Thursday scolded health care protesters dogging his party's lawmakers at local meetings, arguing that some critics on the political right have run out of ideas - and ditched their civic manners."

Bloomberg.com has reported that "The Democratic National Committee released a new Web advertisement charging that "desperate Republicans and their well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs" to "destroy President Obama and stop the change Americans voted for overwhelmingly in November."

Yet as the AP reported, most protesters "said they learned about the event from various community groups that oppose the health care overhaul. All rejected the notion that they had been organized on a large scale, or had connections to the insurance industry."

Either way, don't we as Americans have the right to protest our government? Is it fair that Americans who are opposing this bill are being ridiculed for expressing their beliefs? As Voltaire so famously put it, "I may not agree with what you are saying but I will fight to the death for your right to say it."

[Additional Photos: AP Photo/Hans Pennink, 2009; AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, 2009]