MORE FUN WITH THE RADIO

today's topic: protesters at the presidential inauguration. my radio friends don't think people should be allowed to protest, i mean "i'm a firm believer in the first amendment, but protesting the inauguration of the elected president of the united states is un-american." pardon? did you just say that the right to peacefully gather in protest is un-american? and why is "un-american" a statement that cannot be challenged? you don't get to tell me that i can't walk down the street in a leopard-skin speedo covered in peanut-butter leading a horse with two members of the band supertramp making out on its back while a sign that reads "all hail lord satan" dangles from it's shimmery mane. now that's america jack.

I'm reminded of the time my dad came to visit and flipped the fuck O-U-T when he saw my invitation to an ACLU dinner on the fridge. you know how you can say that you don't much care for black people? well it's because of the ACLU. ...acutally, it's because of the ACLU that black people can say they don't care for my dad, but that's neither here nor there. ever hear of roe vs. wade? the fucking scopes monkey trial? gather 'round kiddies and i shall tell you my favorite ACLU tale:

my roommate, whose family is ridiculously connected to cool people, told me this story: in the 1970's, a group of neo-nazis planned a rally in skokie, illinois (no doubt having nothing better to do), but the city of skokie sued to enjoin the nazi march. frank collin, the neo-nazi spokesman, failed to appeal the ruling before the cook county appellate court. sensing defeat, he turned to the ACLU (which he affectionately referred to as "the ACL-Jew"). most ACLU lawyers were reluctant to represent such a notorious group... except for one (roommate's family friend = tie in, yay!)... did i mention he was jewish? oh yea, the lawyer who represented frank collin was jewish. and do you know who he chose as co-council? a gay black man. yup. the nazis were represented by a jew and a gay black man, effectively de-legitimizing any sort of terror-hold they might have had over anyone.

now, there's no doubt the tenets of nazism are just fucking dumb, but we have to respect an individual's right to speak their mind (minus libelous speech, etc., etc.) no matter how ludicrously stupid they might be. like jay severin. god, that guy's an ass. but let's not forget our responsibility to call out those self-righteous motherfuckers who think they know what "american" is. focker out.