Comments on Pedersen Defends Phelps?

I think his statement is eloquent, heartfelt and pretty much right on the money.

Jamie is not defending Phelps. He is defending the First Amendment to the Constitution, and I stand with him.

Thanks Jamie! As this issue points out, things are not always as they appear. Well done, I appreciate the distinction that you have made and hope that the bill or eventual law is adjusted at a later date.

I hate Phelps and I hate Nazi's. But the First Amendment is there to protect everyone, even Phelps and even Nazi's. I think what he did at Matthew Shepard's funeral was gross and disgusting. This is one those difficult areas between what our guts tell us is right and about a legal standard that has broad implications. Seems like Jamie took a principled and unpopular position. I admire him for that.

I remember when the Sheppard protests happened. The week after, LIFE magazine printed photos of the activists. One of them - decorated with medals and badges from the Vietnam and Korean wars - held a sign that said "Freedom of Choice is the Right to Hate."

His sign was right, and he risked life and limb for his right to hold it.

Personally, this is a waste of space considering it. The local cemetary in Kent used for military funerals has all the ceremonies far away from the entrance, I think it's almost half a mile, from the last one I was at (my ex-father-in-law, former BSM of Fort Lewis). And the others up here on Magnolia are similarly screened. Having been to a lot of military funerals, that seems reasonable.

It seems the bill could be more carefully tailored to what they're trying to prohibit - hate speech meant to (or likely to) incite violence. I don't think Phelps and his ilk should be covered by the First Amendment because of the ferocity of his hate speech. The First Amendment isn't, and shouldn't be, limitless.

Hey, I had a “pagan orgy of idolatrous blasphemy” at my house on Saturday night!

I love a good pagen orgy of idolatrous blasphemy.

I'm with Jamie. I don't like Fred and family at all. They are a sad sad sad group of people who I don't ever want to lose their voice. Our best defense against a guy like Fred is Fred himself. That way I get to point to all the other Jesus lovers and say... "yeah, he's on YOUR side... how does that make you feel?"

Jamie's a "civil rights lawyer"? I thought he helped large corporations quash competition. Hmm.

@5,

The Korean and Vietnam wars defended American freedoms?

My god, a man of principle and conviction in government? Upholding the Constitution, no less? He clearly has no future.

It's sad when the press -- especially the far left press, such as The Stranger -- doesn't get the First Amendment. It's time to realize that your opposition to Pedersen was not well-thought out.

Huh? Opposition to the First Amendment?

My post doesn't say anything about supporting the bill. It gives Pederesen the microphone to make his point.

"Realize that our opposition to Pedersen was not well-thought out." ...

Ummm, well, here we are giving him the microphone, and (I thought) props for his dissent. And, presumably, this is where you found out about it.

So, it strikes me, that's giving Pedersen some play and props.

Here is a gift from our freedom of speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MRWqlf_8M8&eurl=

You know, Josh, after I posted my comment, I went back and re-read your post. You are right, I was wrong. Your post isn't critical of Pedersen for supporting the First Amendment.

That said, your failure to say in the post whether you support Pedersen's position leaves the reader wondering where your sympathies lies, especially given your previous criticisms of Pedersen. That's the point I should have made.

First Amendment Lover,

I support Pedersen's position.

I'm not sure what you think my previous criticisms of Pedersen were. (Currently, I have some issues with the 62-year-olds clause in the DP bill.)

Savage criticized Pedersen here on Slog over an incident from early 2004 where Pedersen made some insulting comments about Dan in the press without ever talking to Dan about the issue.

Eli Sanders wrote two or three very positive articles about Pedersen in the Stranger news section, which I edited and assigned.

Our edit board decided to include Pedersen when we winnowed down the primary candidates for a second round of interviews from 6 to 3. So, while we ended up endorsing Pure out of the six, Pedersen made it much further than Sherman, Dodson, or Kelley. And, truth be told, of the 3, it came down to Pure v. Pedersen

In the general, we endorsed the Republican. It was a bit of a gag. On the serious side: Pedersen didn't need our help at that point, and the edit board wanted to make a point about GOP hypocrisy when it comes to family values—so we wanted to call attention to this rowdy young GOP candidate.

I didn't like Pedersen's lifeless campaign. I don't like Pedersen's background as a corporate attorney. I don't like his list of corporate doners. I'm not crazy about his personality. But so far, he's carried himself well as a freshman legislator. And, I think, I've given him attention to that end—quoting him quite a bit on Slog.

Josh: Why didn't you call bullshit on Jamie referring to himself as a "civil rights lawyer" on the House floor? Volunteering for Lambda Legal does NOT make him a civil rights lawyer. He is a lawyer who has worked on ONE civil rights issue.

hear hear hear - what a bunch of barf

Josh, all the sicko slander name calling from the Stranger gang and their poison pens, helped to galvanized the gay community to vote for Jamie.

You have a heavy duty back peddle. And now, you suck up to the winner, after too many insults to mention during an intense campaign.

My, my - such short memories.

Remember the word weasel ???? Such a friendly little term .... remember?????

"Doug Whoever -

Get your sore loser head out of your ass.

Lambda Legal is the largest and most effective National project on gay rights. Jamie ran the damn thing for years as National chairperson.

I am sure he spent hundreds of free hours in that role alone alone.

Of course, I do understand the unspoken agreement among the main streamers that no gay or lesbian project really counts in the big, really tough fighting for civil rights world. Certainly not compared to the real projects like the ACLU stuff.

Get a clue Doug. You sound like such a sore loser.

Jamie is the real deal, and they only question is where he will go in politics over the next twenty years."

well said

Sidney,

Dan Savage called Jamie Pedersen a weasel.

I didn't write much at all about Jamie Pedersen until the session started on January 8.

Although, as news editor, I did edit and assign a few pieces on Pedersen during last year's election. Eli Sanders wrote those articles. And, guess what: Jamie used Xeroxes of those articles as campaign pieces.

I don't edit Dan's Slog posts.

Yes, I was happy our edit board endorsed Stephanie Pure over Jamie Pedersen. I thought Pure was the better candidate, and I'd be happier if she was in Olympia today. But Pedersen is, and I think you'll find that if he does his job right and I do mine right, he'll get good coverage and bad coverage from me.

Ah, "sore loser", the mantra of the Bush 2000 campaign, when claiming victory became more important than leadership, and all the victor's misdeeds could be ignored.

Was Jamie at Jack Abramoff's Hanukkah party too? If he was, you won't read it in The Stranger!

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