Freedom of Speech--The Real Issue

There has been much ado about a group that wanted to have a “Peace float” in the Fourth of July Parade but was denied.

Although I haven’t heard it as much lately as I did at first, the always-powerful sounding, but usually uninformed protest claiming Freedom of Speech being violated was the foundational accusation against not allowing the float to appear.

So as usual, let’s get a grip here and be reminded of what the Constitution’s guarantee of Free Speech means instead of the gumby-ized version that liberals like to stretch, contort, bend and twist to support whatever their agenda of the day happens to be.
The First Amendment states: “The Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
It’s pretty straight forward saying that “Congress” is not allowed to pass a law that would preclude someone the right to speak freely against the government. That is clearly what the framers intent was when you actually read history and consider context which may explain why history is not taught anymore and most public school kids cannot read their way out of a comic strip. But I digress…
Freedom of Speech does not mean anyone has a right to put a float in a parade at whim. The organizers who said “No” to the folks who wanted to put a peace float in a parade that was expressly showing support for our military, past and present, was perfectly within their right to do so.
What freedom of speech does guarantee is that the folks who had the peace float have the same right to petition the city to form their own peace parade if they desire.
It was no more a violation of anyone’s rights to say no to the anti-military people to be in the July 4th parade than it would be if the Gay and Lesbian Alliance was having a gay pride celebration and turned down a request from our church to have an anti-gay float in their parade.
So let’s quit abusing the Constitution and flailing our arms in indignation about rights being violated when it simply isn’t the case. Confusing the real issues helps no one and eliminates the possibility of considerate exchange of ideas.