Skip to main content

Todd Weiler's bass ackwards view on free speech

Republican Utah Governor Gary Herbert recently signed a bill declaring that pornography is creating a public health crisis. Republican State Senator Todd Weiler, the sponsor of the measure, then appeared on the conservative Family Research Council's program, Washington Watch, when he said this:

"I said to McDonald's, 'You're a family restaurant and you market to children, why would you want to be a purveyor of pornography?' You know, the librarians will put their hands over their hearts and talk about the First Amendment and yet if these libraries and these McDonald's were giving cigarettes to our children, we'd all be up in arms, we'd be picketing them. But somehow it's okay if they deliver pornography to them. That's what I think is often lost in the First Amendment discussion, because someone may have the First Amendment right, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, to view pornography, but what about my First Amendment right to not view it?"

Eh, what? Now I for one don't watch pornography, but still think Senator Weiler has a pretty bass ackwards view regarding the matter.

Let's take another look at the final sentence of Weiler's quote:

"That's what I think is often lost in the First Amendment discussion, because someone may have the First Amendment right, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, to view pornography, but what about my First Amendment right to not view it?"

I may not watch pornography, but I also don't think it should be made illegal, and know that while I have the freedom to watch it if I so choose, I also have the freedom of not watching it. Senator Weiler doesn't seem to realize this, and I'm seriously wondering if he's hooked on porn, to the point where he wants it to be made illegal so he can't watch it. Why else would he say what he did?

"Sure, the Supreme Court made it legal to watch porn, but what if I don't want to watch it? I mean, no matter what I do, it's on. When I wake up in the morning, when I go to bed at night, when I'm in the shower, when I'm driving to work, when I'm at a bar, when I'm at church, it's always on my phone, and I can't stop it!"

Senator Weiler, you have a First Amendment right to not view pornography, so stop watching it! I mean, don't even start... Well, I must be going now. A friend of mine seems to be of the same mindset as Mr. Weiler, is constantly smoking cigarettes, while declaring, "I should have a right to not smoke it!" So yeah, I'll need to have a similar discussion with her. Wish me luck...

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/utah-goper-says-access-pornography-violates-his-right-not-view-it

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Another look at "The Nightly Show" with Larry Wilmore

After its first week, I gave The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore a B+ grade. While I didn't think the show appeared to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I also liked the Daily Show  meets Politically Incorrect vibe I got from it, and thought, with the proper adjustments, the show would indeed provide a great fill-in for The Colbert Report . In the show's succeeding weeks, however, I've been less impressed by it and think that if it doesn't make certain adjustments, it could be in jeopardy of losing many long-time viewers of the show's time slot. One major issue I think the show's had to this point is a lack of direction. It's been unable to decide whether it wants to be a comedy show with serious conversation sprinkled in or a serious show with comedy sprinkled in. It's almost as if the show's writers want to give The Nightly Show a Real Time with Bill Maher feel. The problem with that idea or format is the fact Real Time is an hour lon...

My first book review of "Penetrating the Heart of Life: Ambiguous In Thought, Ambivalent In Feeling"

Well, I received my first book review on this poetry-compilation book I completed and published late last year, but have finally gotten around to marketing now. The reviewer gave it 5 out of 5 stars and said: "I enjoyed the poetic journey the writer has taken me on. From darkest days and hopeful optimism to the conclusion of hope realized. The visual images that the poem titled "Room Temperature" elicits, made me think of the song, "Horse With No Name" sung by the band America. In a similar manner, another poem – "Deafening Sigh-lence" reminded me a great deal of Simon & Garfunkel’s song, "The Sound of Silence". There are so many poems in this book that I related to, that I felt a connection to the author and felt that we were traveling on this journey together." http://www.lulu.com/shop/craig-rozniecki/penetrating-the-heart-of-life-ambiguous-in-thought-ambivalent-in-feeling/paperback/product-18677501.html

A closer look at the Scramble With Friends power-ups

I am unashamed to admit that I'm a nerd. My idea of a good time is playing a word game like Boggle or Scrabble. Thankfully, I (and many others) can play such games via Facebook and/or my (our) cell phone(s). While it seems that cheating has become more commonplace in these games (Words With Friends in particular) than San Diego has had nice weather, I've yet to give in to that craze. One element present with the game Scramble With Friends (Boggle) not present in Words With Friends (Scrabble) are legal boosts called "power-ups," which cost a number of tokens from the 15 available. I've now tried all five power-ups, including the latest one which costs money. So, in case anyone's curious about playing the game or giving these power-ups a gander, here's a rundown of them all: Freeze - I think this is probably my favorite of all the power-ups. With the freeze, time stands still for a matter of seconds, which allows you more time to find words and improve...