Freedom of Speech

Have you seen this? Truck Nuts Free Speech Debate

First off, let me say, I'm sure the Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves right now, to think that we would be using the freedoms they fought and died for to display plastic animal genitalia on our vehicles. The freedom of speech they were referring to was the ability for a person to speak their mind and express an opinion that was diametrically opposed to the government's view with no fear of retribution from said government.

We see subtle examples every day of our true freedom of speech being eroded, such as when high ranking government officials refer to their opponents as terrorists merely for disagreeing with them. To his credit, Mr. Biden reportedly has backed off his supposed comments, however the fact remains that this situation is much closer to the type of speech that the Founding Fathers sought to protect.

But I digress. Back to the question at hand, which is, 'Does the First Amendment allow people to hang vulgar and tasteless ornamentation from the back of their vehicle?' The short answer is yes. The Federal Government is prohibited by the First Amendment from punishing or penalizing us for the simple act of expression. However, the caveat here is that the First Amendment applies to the Federal Government. Washington can't outlaw it. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were meant to define and limit the Federal Government, not the individual states. States were initially envisioned to have much greater rights and responsibilities. The reason for this is that if the majority of the duties of government are carried out on a state level, it will require greater participation by those being governed. It may be less efficient, but it demands that people remain involved in the majority of the decisions made by their government. It requires the general population to be engaged and aware of what is going on. It makes it much more difficult for a smooth talker to weasel their way into office, and if they do make it in, an engaged populace will quickly pick up on the inconsistencies and call them to task.

Unfortunately, an unintended consequence of the 14th Amendment is incorporation. Incorporation is the slow erosion of states' rights under the guise of the protection of individual's rights. However, rather than protecting individual's rights, it merely results in increased bloat of the Federal Government. As a result, we are left with states that should have the right to decide what they want to allow by way of tasteless and vulgar speech, but instead find their hands tied by restrictions that were never intended to be applied to them.

Does the First Amendment protect truck nuts? Not as originally intended, but as our government has slowly infiltrated our lives over the years, it now does. Pause with me and morn the passing of states' rights.

Let me close with a moment of silence now for good taste and common sense.