So, Ive been thinking a lot about this Clippers thing. The way its coming down is bothering me and this is why: In America, you are free to be a bigot. Your speech is totally protected; your ideas are yours to publicize to the limit of your ability to do so. You can be a douchebag or Mother Theresa. Either way, your speech and your ideas belong to you and you cannot be persecuted for them, no matter how vile they may be to the population at large. My concern about the current sitch with Mr. Sterling, is that he is being punished for his ideas and his beliefs. While his world view is totally repugnant to me, I will defend to my own death his right to have that view and thats a fact. The fact that his speech is protected is also what protects my own, you see. Every single one of us is one political breeze of change from being a pariah. Whether its the KKK, Westboro Baptists, or whoever, they have the right to hate. They do. One of the reasons our founding fathers were such geniuses can be seen right here: They recognized that these radical ideas were safe to protect because, in the light of some reason and a clear day, the vast majority would hoot them down to insignificance--which is exactly what happens every time. Meanwhile, because of our freedom of expression was protected, lots and lots of good ideas get thrown in the ring as well because there is no fear of consequence to the speaker. You think Obama is an idiot? You can say so. Try that in Uganda. Or Russia, for that matter. The bottom line to me is this: its wrong for the NBA to get on its high horse and fine this guy the price of a cup of coffee and throw high fives all around. His ideas are his to have. Period. That said, his employees dont have to go to work (I certainly wouldnt if I were them) and fans dont have to buy tickets, t-shirts or all the rest. Why enrich someone you despise? Welcome to America. You are free to ignore him and his enterprises completely. To me, that is the correct punishment in our society. He is utterly free to speak his mind and I am totally free not hear a word.
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 05:04:40 +0000
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