Man...sometimes ya just wanna...."To da moon, Alice", but you don't

Discourse. To convey thoughts through the use of words.

There are many types of discourse, and plenty of media applications with which to apply your own version. This blog comes to mind first and foremost. You can be Patrick Henry and say, "Give me liberty or give me death." You can be Thomas Jefferson in his 1801 inauguration speech saying, "If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."

The key word in Tom's sentence being "reason". Freedom of speech is tolerated and accepted when it is conducted in a "reasonable" manner, using "reasonable" words, speech, and thought processes. At times though, the process or the words become unreasonable, and although you will most likely not be incarcerated for speaking your mind, there are situations where the public in general, or individuals from within the standing public take issue with the reasonability (yes, I made that word up) of a person's words, and something must be done about it.

Therein lies the fundamental premise of Freedom of Speech. You really can't say anything you want to anyone you want, but the parameters and limitations of the 1st Amendment are certainly broad enough to allow you to get your point across in the aforementioned "reasonable" manner. The second part of the 1st Amendment is rarely discussed because it's only inferred, but is no less a firm, fundamental provision of the amendment:

Inasmuch as you, or you, or you, have the right to say to me whatever you so desire, I too have the equally fundamental (and I dare say more powerful) right to flip the off switch and completely shut out what you are saying. If you feel the overwhelming urge tell me you don't agree with my point of view, fire away. If you're reasonable about it, I'll give you the respect and courtesy of my ear. Same goes for e-mail. Come at me with a cogent, thoughtful presentation, and you may even convince me you are correct.

But if you're going to make your point through the use of hate speech, abhorrent supposition based partially on conjecture and mostly upon your own warped sense of factual, evidenciary information - spare me. A quantifiable debate is the cornerstone of free speech, but both parties must obey the rules of decency and decorum. If not, there is no debate at all.

What you have is one person with an astute contention, while the other is simply a recalcitrant, worthy of nothing but antipathy.

And so, in taking some good advice and letting this go as an opaque post, I now rest the issue.

Peace.