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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
OUR OPINION
Funeral protest bill isn't worth the fuss
The Rev. Fred Phelps' funeral protests, a staple of his church's bashing of homosexuals, are under fire from the Legislature. The senate is considering a bill to ban picketing within 300 feet of funerals.
Phelps has been protesting funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq, carrying signs that imply their deaths were punishment for America's tolerance of gays and lesbians. He and his followers have done the same at funerals of people who died from complications of AIDS.
What might seem like an act of good intentions is actually a knee-jerk reaction to Phelps' antics. What he does is vile, disrespectful and cruel.
People don't like to think that someone would picket their funeral, and it's easy to empathize with the families who have had the misery of seeing Phelps during such a difficult time.
But what makes this country great is that people like Phelps have the right to broadcast their vile, disrespectful and cruel ideas.
Protection of free speech includes all kinds of speech, most importantly the kind we disagree with the most. The outrageous behavior of one person or group, no matter how vile, disrespectful or cruel, isn't enough to change the laws
And if we take away Phelps right to protest the funerals of soldiers or AIDS victims, we lose
Issue: Fred Phelps and free speech
Stance: Don't restrict speech rights; protest Phelps instead.
the right to picket his funeral.
The way to show disapproval of Phelps' actions without jeopardizing the sanctity of free speech would be to show up at his funeral and protest.
PAGE 5A
Whenever society tries to quell the speech of people because it doesn't like that speech, we forget that such is the point of free speech.
2 Live Crew, an early '90s hip-hop group whose lyrics were seen as too vulgar and too lewd, had its music censored.
After fighting to continue doing shows, the group released a song about its freedom of speech in the United States called "Banned in the USA."
In the song, Luther Campbell delivers a monologue about the beauty of free speech:
"So all you right-wingers, left-wingers, bigots, communists / There is a place for you in this world / Because this is the land of the free, the home of the brave."
No matter how much we detest Phelps' speech, he is included in that list too.
John Jordan for the editorial board
Free All for Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
KU's too expensive. If I had known I was going to pay this much, I would have gone out of state.
gensen drought.
So it's Valentine's Day and I was really hoping for a great Eric Jorgensen article on dating or women or something, but no. There's been a pretty big Eric Jor-
Yeah, I just opened up my Degree deodorant and on top of the deodorant it said
"Live life," and that makes me feel good, man. I'm gonna live life now. Thank you Degree for supporting me. Last time I opened my deodorant it said "Go all out," and I did. Thank you
Degree. I love you.
All my friends suggest that I should have a Scot-tapalooza a la the movie "Old School" after I broke up with my girlfriend. Would it be insensitive to do this? I need your help
Free-for-All
Spawned from the seed of Ares, I am a force that's not to be reckoned with.
KUT Track and Field is No. 8 in the nation. You're probably wondering how I know that. The paper never says anything about it.
What are you talking about? I ain't single. Jimmy John's is my Valentine.
I think everyone should get off for Valentine's Day. Get it?
Sure is a good thing Mary Jane's my Valentine.
So, according to the Facebook, the class of 2009 only has 23 people. Could be a problem.
I could have made a fool of myself, but thank god for Facebook. It told me that my crush is in a relationship.
Damn you facebook for not sugar coating anything. Hit me with a train, why don't
Hi, I have a dedication to make. This is to the girl that freaking snapped her gum through the whole Chemistry review session tonight. I just want to tell her that if she ever smacks her gum like that again, I'm going to smack her in
Valentine's Day once again
Had no date, so looks like it's
"Queer Eye for the Straight
Guy" marathon for me.
ing to smack her in the face.
I just smoked maple syrup, and it got me really high. Maple syrup, really high. It got me.
Jonathan Kealing, editor
864-4854 or jkealing@kansan.com
TALK TO US
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Minor instances blur military's positive impact
that is run nonstop on Al-Jazeera and in the world media, there are several schools being built, many water pumps being installed or repaired and hundreds of thousands of service members who conduct themselves every day in accordance with the highest standards of honor and duty. These members of the military do this for months at a time even though they routinely go without what we consider basic comforts. They are continually put into stressful situations that make the stress that we all experience during finals week look like a Sundav stroll.
All of this being said, the next time you hear someone say, "Well, I support the troops, but. . .," and then go into a tide about how screwed up Iraq is, I encourage you to remind them that it's not George Bush or Dick Cheney out there manning the front lines in Iraq. Our military should not be judged by the horrible example of a tiny minority among their ranks. Remind them to look at the big picture and the amazing progress that our military is making throughout Iraq.
COMMENTARY
- Goetting is a Leavenworth senior in political science and East Asian language and culture.
Just about everyone says they support the troops, but in their words and actions, they don't. Take for instance the release of video this past week that showed British soldiers beating and taunting Iraqi teenagers. This incident, while definitely not representative of British or other Coalition Forces in Iraq, has already been taken up by demagogues, both on the political right and left, as further proof that the United States and its coalition should withdraw from Iraq because they are only making matters worse. This view, however, is deeply flawed.
To demonstrate this, let's look at recent events here in Lawrence. It hasn't been that long since Jason Allen Rose burned down an apartment complex and killed three innocent people. One could generalize that because there is such a heinous person living in Lawrence, then a lot of people living here must be crazy arsonists. But this isn't the case. It's not even close.
Another even more recent example is the shooting that occurred in front of The Granada. Despite the fact that neither of the two victims were from Lawrence and the fact that the Lawrence Journal-World quoted Lawrence Police Chief Ron Olin as saving.
JOSHUA GOETTING opinion@kansan.com
As anyone can see, this line of logic just doesn't hold. Nevertheless, there are many who point to incidents like the torturing of prisoners at the Abu Gharib prison as examples of how counterproductive the military is in Iraq and how our military presence is the scourge of Iraqi existence.
"Most of the leads are not in the city of Lawrence," many people have declared Lawrence to be dangerous and unsafe. Some out-of-towners (from Topeka and Kansas City no less) have even said that they will not be frequenting Lawrence bars because of concerns for their safety. Now I realize that this is preaching to the choir, but for someone from Topeka be concerned about how violent bars are in Lawrence because of an isolated incident is almost like people in Minnesota worrying about how snow will fall in Texas this year.
The truth, whether it is reported or not, is that for every mistake
Sometimes mistakes happen
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Tragic as it may be, and as much as we regret it, mistakes creep into the Kansan on an almost daily basis. It happened Wednesday and it's happened more than a dozen times so far this semester.
When I was little, my mom told me something that I am reminded of every day as a journalist:
Mistakes happen.
The article about a speech on Wilt Chamberlain — to be delivered by Aram Goudsouzian
— contained the wrong date. The article said the speech was Wednesday — the day the story ran — when in fact, the speech is tonight. A correction ran on page 3A today.
The fact is, however, that we can never really undo the damage of an error. We can correct it online and print a correction, but nothing more is possible. A newspaper is a snapshot of life as we think it is at the moment
of publication. It's the major disadvantage of this medium, in relation to the Internet and broadcast.
Students with classes, relationships, jobs and problems just like all of you. The only difference between these students and you is that they have volunteered to put their homework in front of all of your eyes.
Reality is that, as much as we hold ourselves to the same standard as newspapers produced with full time staffs of trained journalists, the Kansan is produced by students.
make mistakes. The Kansas City Star, the largest paper in the area, corrected 582 stories, graphics or photo captions, 1.6 corrections per issue.
As long as you keep telling us about mistakes, we'll keep correcting them. Remember, though, next time you pick up that not-so-excellent Western Civ paper, at least it's not being published.
The Kansan has run 14 corrections so far this semester in 20 issues.
If you'll take a moment to consider what this means, you'll realize what a risk this is. I doubt many students would be interested in having their CHEM 184 lab assignment or their MATH 121 assignment posted around campus.
Mistakes happen, and they happen in the Kansan almost once per issue. We hate every single one of them and we strive to avoid them, but, as hard as we try, they'll keep sneaking in.
But even with that caveat, the reality is that papers with full-time, fully trained staff still
And remember, mistakes happen.
- Kealing is a Chesterfield, Mo., junior in journalism and political science. He is Kansan editor.
Porn bill taxes average Joe
COMMENTARY
COURTNEY FARR opinion@kansan.com
An army of strippers and sexual deviants needs to beat down the legislature's door with giant dildos.
It's time to take a stand. The Kansas Legislature wants to tax our porn and sex toys.
A bill before the House Tax Committee proposes to slap a sin tax of 10 percent on adult entertainment businesses, like strip clubs and adult video stores.
Legislators want to tie a direct link between these businesses and crime. By doing so they can claim that the tax is paying for damages caused to communities by pornography and adult entertainment.
No solid consensus supports that claim, though. If you want to believe that the connection exists, there are studies just for you. If you don't see the link, there are reports to back you up also. There are even a couple of international studies that say more porn decreases sex crimes.
For decades, moral crusaders have believed that porn causes violent sexual crime.
This isn't really about crime, though. It's about money. Adult entertainment is a multi-billion-dollar business, and politicians want their piece of the porm pie.
Anti-porn activist Phillip Cosby of Abilene testified to the committee last week that the rate should be increased to 25 percent. At that rate, he said, the revenue could be worth 20 to 40 million dollars. Representatives expect the bill to go to a vote before Feb. 25.
The state badly needs more money to run its ballooning sexual predator program.
Legislators think they have found the ultimate prize: A publicly-popular tax. It's a great strategy with a multi-pronged attack.
Who wants to defend the porn industry and its customers? No elected official is going to stand up and sav that taxing porn is unfair.
There is already a built-in support base. Moral and religious groups will flock to the cause as a new way to attack an old enemy.
If you love porn, call your representative and let them know how you feel. Our kind of love may not always be free, but it can be tax free.
Finally, by framing the debate around sex crimes, average citizens will jump on the bandwagon to protect their children from the sefiends. A multi-million-dollar tax with widespread public support — like I said, brilliant.
A violent and dangerous minority can be found in many groups, but we don't use that as an excuse to slap outrageous taxes on them. Eco-terrorists burn government buildings, but I don't see any taxes on hemp necklaces and trail mix.
These politicians are ignoring the fact that the vast majority of people who watch porn, visit strip clubs and use sex toys are perfectly normal and healthy individuals who don't rape or molest people.
This kind of minority approach to selective taxation is ridiculous
Farr is a Scott City senior in journalism.
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