Freedom of Package Store Window Dressing

Last time I looked freedom of speech included the right to voice your disapproval over issues you might not agree with. It’s something that a few hundred million blogs have in common. While I might think that Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin are facist media whores who would sell their ovaries for a spot on Hannity and Colmes I don’t ask them to apologize for their views. I disagree with them. I think they are wrong. But I don’t demand that their books not be printed or their snarly-lipped faces not been seen on bad news channels that I don’t watch anyway.

So when a guy like Greg Smith walks into a store owner’s business and says, “I don’t like the poster you having hanging in your window, take it down or I’ll picket” it pisses me off. See, Greg doesn’t have to agree with the storeowners taste in window décor. He can choose not to visit the establishment. But he does not have the right to demand an apology as if the guy did something wrong. It’s a difference of opinion. It’s protected—at least until further notice—by the Constitution.

It is Greg's right to picket. And it is Tom's right to display political cartoons. That's what makes it American. No apologies from no one.

http://www.connpost.com/news/ci_4161210

PS: Full disclosure: I work with Greg Smith and once did a play with his wife. Nice enough people. Opposite side of the political spectrum. Do I ask them to apologize for it? No.