Mystery Meat II said:
No, no, no.
First off, I'm not exactly jumping up and down at the prospect of aligning myself with WBC for any reason. They're scum. Scum three months past their expiration date. Garbage wrapped in the skin of sub-standard human beings. All in all, a bunch of bad eggs.
But they also have the right to express unpopular thought. Freedom of speech doesn't carry much weight if it's only applied to statements of universal truth.
Cops harassing them for fabricated crimes is wrong, not because of the recipient but because of the action. Who's to say they won't create another artiface to put someone more likable through the same rigmarole? It's not as if there's no precedent down there. Ditto blocking them in with tow trucks.
And assault? That's the worst possible reaction to these clowns. Because while it feels good at the onset, there's people out there who feel very similarly to the WBC members who don't put voice to it because they aren't fond of their tactics. But make them martyrs, and that'll convince the fence-sitters that they were right all along. They get stronger with every slight or punch because it allows them to play the martyr card with factual backing -- they ARE getting persecuted because of their dumbass beliefs, and with that comes sympathy and allegiance, even if only in dribbles.
Ignore them. Sound and fury signifying nothing ... unless you signify it for them.
They have their Constitutional rights. But with those rights comes responsiblity. And the Westboro folks don't express their speech responsibly.
If they want to carry signs about how the Bible is against gay people, that's their right. But when they personalize it like "XXXXX Soldier is in heck!", well, what do they expect?
The Westboro folks are bullies, plain and simple. They protest things their way because they can get away with it, just like bullies. Sometimes, the only way a bully learns to stop is a punch in the nose. The Mississippi folks just punched the Westboro folks in the nose (in one case, literally).
