The 2010 ‘Muzzle’ Awards
for Affronts to Free Expression
1. U.S. Rep. Alan
Grayson, D-Fla., for asking the U.S. attorney general to fine and imprison for five years a Florida critic whose website, titled http://www.mycongressmanisnuts.com/, is a parody of Grayson’s official website congressmanwithguts.com.2. The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, for blocking the sale of a wine in Alabama because the label showed a 19th century depiction of a nude nymph. “It’s still available in 49 states.” —Bill Leigon, president of Hahn Family Wines.
3. Chicago Alderman James A. Balcer, for destroying an urban mural because he objected to its content, which featured three Chicago police surveillance cameras. Balcer: “Everyone has a right to their opinion, but there’s limits. He has to follow the law, this artist, like everyone else.” Artist Gabriel Villa intended the work to be provocative: “I wanted to create a platform for dialogue but the mural was never given a chance.”
4. The Oklahoma Tax Commission, for censoring certain state “vanity” license plates the board considered unacceptable. “They didn’t think…[‘STR8SEXI’] was inappropriate but yet ‘IM GAY’ is. I think it’s kind of a double standard.” —Oklahoma resident Keith Kimmel.5. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, for harassing Elvis impersonators whose street performances are apparently objectionable (in Vegas?), “in contravention of their established First Amendment rights.”
And more!
Editor’s Note: They can’t say that, can they?
Today’s PeezPix: Albacore
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Stuff like this makes me sick. You know it is a free country and if you don't like what other people are expressing you don't have to be around it. Also these people are exercising their right to freedom of speech why don't the people that don't like exercise their's in retaliation if they don't like so much. You can only cry to daddy to make it stop for so long.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fine line, sometimes, between freedom of speech and the violation of someone else's rights. I'm glad I'm not the freedom of speech police.
ReplyDelete