The Right to Bigotry

You have a right to be a bigot.  PERIOD!  A legal, Constitutional right to be a bigot!

But what exactly does that mean?  All it means is that you may not be imprisoned or fined or in any tangible way penalized – by the federal government, by your state government, or your local government – for being a bigot.  You may lose friends and you may lose your job or your livelihood, but you have a legal, Constitutional right to be a bigot.  Indeed, the biggest loser is bound to be the bigot himself – is that you? – but he is legally free to do so.

What is Constitutional, anyway?

Constitutional is a podcast, check it out!

I am pretty certain that I have addressed this maddening question elsewhere, but maybe not in my blog, perhaps in my book, To My Countrymen.  But without going back to see what I have already written that you cannot find by reading my blog, I feel compelled to address this important issue here and now.

Many Americans are pretty sure what is and what is not Constitutional, what is or is not a Constitutional RIGHT.  I believe that they are wrong most of the time, especially those who like to throw around the words “That IS (or is NOT) Constitutional” on a daily basis.  If pressed, they would declare that they have the right to their opinion about what is or is not Constitutional.  But they are wrong!  They have no more right to an opinion about this question than they have a right to an opinion on the question of: how much is two plus two?  But, of course, Constitutional rights are not so rigidly defined as the rules of counting.  But we peasants have no right to an opinion here.

Stupidity: A Rant

Stupidity is a Choice.  There, I’ve said it!

But, before I get into the meat (sic) of this essay, let me clarify the literal (dictionary) distinction between ignorant and stupid.  An ignorant person does not know stuff, a stupid person has a sub-par brain.  Both words are insults, stupid is much worse. Partly because stupid can’t be fixed.  At least, that is how wordsmiths think of these words.

Before writing this post, I figured that I should discover if anyone else had said something similar.  So, Googling “stupidity is a choice,” here is what I found (in author order):