Orly Pushes the Free-Speech Envelope

TPM reports on a blog post by birther movement leader Orly Taitz where she seems to be advocating that American citizens start up armed militias to protest the actions of "this Kenyan, Indonesian communist usurper."

Uh... pretty soon, Orly might be awakened by a knock on her door by men in black suits, accompanied by rifle-wielding federal officers. Or, they might just bust down the door.

Lucky for her the Supreme Court's pretty clear on the protection of speech that seems to advocate a violent overthrow of the government. As Justice Brandeis wrote in 1927 Whitney v. California:

"Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears. To justify suppression of free speech there must be reasonable ground to fear that serious evil will result if free speech is practiced. There must be reasonable ground to believe that the danger apprehended is imminent. There must be reasonable ground to believe that the evil to be prevented is a serious one. ... even advocacy of [law] violation however reprehensible morally, is not a justification for denying free speech where the advocacy falls short of incitement and there is nothing to indicate that the advocacy would be immediately acted upon.”

Anyone who thinks Orly's words carry that much weight as to constitute a clear and present (imminent) danger is giving this moron too much power.