Free speech can be treacherous

"Don't tase me, bro!" Those famous words uttered by Andrew Meyer, a 21-year old University of Florida student, have made the circuit around the internet this week. After the video clip made its run on YouTube, CNN and other media outlets, people around the country erupted in a free speech debate that has raised questions about our own constitutional rights.

With this topic still making front page news, Colorado State's student newspaper, the Rocky Mountain Collegian, ran a special edition of their paper last Friday detailing free speech. Inside their Opinions section were four simple words that sent that newspaper to the top of the headlines. The editorial board's consensus opinion for that edition of the paper read "Taser this....F*CK BUSH" (Of course the letter U was in its proper place).

What a grand couple of weeks it has been for freedom of speech. These two incidents have sparked all kinds of debate on the issue of First Amendment rights. As the Editor-in-Chief of a newspaper, I have a vested interest in this issue and it involves the very principles I operate on week in and week out.

Do I, as an American citizen or editor, feel that my First Amendment rights have been threatened? Absolutely not. These two incidents have shown how people poorly use their rights to free speech.

What CNN and YouTube showed the American public was only Meyer asking the question, being led away and suddenly tasered. A handy piece of editing.

According to the police report, Meyer busted into the John Kerry forum and cut to the front of the line while screaming profanities and disrupting those that were asking questions. Before Meyer started his set of questions he made sure a female nearby was taping every moment.

Was he trying to ask a simple question for which he was unjustly apprehended? No, I think he was doing it for the exact reaction he received. He does have a website dedicated to such stunts, after all.

Did he deserve to be tasered? Probably not, but if I'm a university police officer and I have a kid acting erratically as Meyer was in front of a former presidential candidate, I might be tempted to pull out the taser as well. All in all, I think the reason Meyer was arrested was simply due to the fact that he was physically resisting officers.

The Collegian also missed the mark with their four word editorial. Bush and his policies had nothing to do with the taser incident. What did that accomplish? The editorial was simply a blind swing at the current administration. I have as much a problem with the administration as anyone, but even I didn't see the point with the opinion.

The Collegian is now facing the music, as the paper has already lost $30,000 worth of advertising revenue and staff have taken pay cuts.

Free speech is granted to us by the Constitution, but everyone who uses that right seems to forget that it is a double-edged sword .I can write nearly any opinion I want in this editorial piece without being punished by the government, but the readers and advertisers are able to punish me by refusing to associate themselves with the newspaper. If that were to happen, this newspaper could cease to exist. Where would my avenue for free speech be, then?

Worse yet, a future employer could read the article and refuse to hire me. It has my name on the byline; I can't deny that I wrote it.I don't feel my right to free speech is restricted by the fallout from these two events. I would not have chosen this subject otherwise. These two events just show me how careless and stupid people can be with their rights

Not everyone is as careless with their right to freedom of speech, though. The Emmy Awards this year also highlighted the issue. Sally Field made a comment about the war in Iraq, but also dropped in an expletive. Was her free speech restricted? No. Her comments made it to every publication and internet blog, and everyone knows exactly what she said.

The reason Fox dumped it was because of the profanity. The FCC has some heavy and ridiculous fines. They were covering their rears, not Bush's war. Field chose the right time and venue to voice her opinion, and it made all the difference.

So what can we all learn from this? Nothing we didn't already know. The First Amendment is still intact. We still have the same freedoms laid out for us over 200 years ago. And quite frankly, the only way those rights can be restricted is if we as the American public allow it to happen.

Just know that anything you say can always come back to bite you, or, in Mr. Meyer's case, tase you.