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The Spectacle Blog
A county judge in Portland, Oregon, has ruled that an obese, 50-year old man who went Full Monty in the Portland International Airport in April to protest TSA screening procedures was exercising his free speech. So he acquitted John E. Brennan of indecent exposure.
There is much to be indignant about in the over-familiar way the TSA goes about screening airline passengers. (Sort of the way Bill Clinton screened interns.) But geez, Judge Rees, don’t you supposed that when the founders crafted that amendment having to do with free speech they were talking about, well, speech? I’m sure fair-minded travelers would welcome hearing Brennan’s well thought-out opinions on TSA’s duly constituted gropers without being exposed to his ample back-side and other saggy bits.
Perhaps I would be more sympathetic to Rees’s constitutional contortions if it had been Catherine Zeta-Jones putting it all on the line for her beliefs. But Brennan really needs to find another way to make his points.
In this case Bumble was right. The law is an ass, and a fat one at that.
mike 3/505| 7.20.12 @ 8:38AM
Mr T,
Ordinarily, I might have some modicum of agreement with you. Sometimes however, us bottom feeders without access to high-priced lawyers must use alternative methods to communicate our irritation with our all pervasive government. Although a clear case of vandalism and destruction of private property, throwing the tea in the harbor was also a form of speech, albeit an illegal one.
Vasu Murti | 7.20.12 @ 1:29PM
Some women, too, are uncomfortable with their bodies, and are reluctant to appear naked before their man, even during lovemaking. It's natural to demand privacy when going to pee, defecate, copulate, masturbate, etc. All of this might not have been Brennan's intent, but his point is well made!