The self-proclaimed "rodeo clown", Glenn Beck whose teary-eyed shtick and ultra-right wing fanatical rants and ravings have won him legions of new viewers has finally crossed that invisible line in the sand between free speech and incitement to rebellion. He is a de facto homegrown domestic terrorist.
From Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes:
"The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic. [...] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent."
Holmes wrote of falsely shouting fire, because, of course, if there were a fire in a crowded theater, one may rightly indeed shout "Fire!"; one may, depending on the law in operation, even be obliged to. Falsely shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater, i.e. shouting "Fire!" when one believes there to be no fire in order to cause panic, was interpreted not to be protected by the First Amendment.
The First Amendment holding in Schenck was later overturned by Brandenburg v. Ohio, which limited the scope of banned speech to that which would be directed to and likely to incite imminent lawless action (e.g. a riot). The test in Brandenburg is the current High Court jurisprudence on the ability of government to proscribe speech after that fact.
In my humble opinion, Beck has crossed that legal threshold wherein his right to freedom of speech has been abrogated by his advocacy of violence and revolution against the legally elected government of the United States and therefore is "directed to and likely to incite imminent lawless action (e.g. a riot)". And if we make the mistake of writing him off as just another FoxNews crackpot, we do so at our own peril. There are news stories and blog stories every day reporting on the level of anger and frustration felt by many Americans who see Obama and all that he represents both personally, racially, and politically as a threat to what they perceive to be the "real American" way of life.
One need go no further than their own computer to find numerous websites who support and encourage the treasonous ideas put forth by Beck and others of his ilk. And if one has the stomach for it, a quick scan of the comments by readers of this insanity will reveal that many seriously deeply troubled people are buying into this crap. And if you then google "gun sales in the U.S. since Obama's election", you will be terrified. Charles Blow'sOp-Ed in Saturday's NY Times speaks directly to this issue. But perhaps the most infuriating aspect of this whole thing is the fact that Beck doesn't believe one single word of what he says. It's an act. It's how he earns his living.
However much I may personally believe that Beck's talk of rebellion and revolution goes beyond his Constitutional right to free speech, in reality, we all know that this issue is second only to the the "right to bear arms" argument in complexity. Both are fraught with danger both socially and politically. I doubt that anyone on the Democratic side is about to demand that the Justice Department charge Beck with any crime. That just leaves you and me. So what do we do?
The time has come to take up the most powerful weapon in the world...money. It is the average citizen's weapon of mass destruction. If we see Beck as a cancer growing on the American body politic then we can use one of medicine's cancer killing tools which is to starve the malignancy of its blood supply. Choke off the life blood and the cancer shrivels and dies. So too we have the power to choke off Beck's life blood...the advertising dollars paid to Fox by all the companies that sponsor not only Beck's comedy act but all the other Fox programs.
The time couldn't be more propitious for such an action. As each and every American company struggles through this economic disaster, they cannot afford either negative publicity or even worse the threat of a boycott against their products. That's our weapon. And with it we can blow Beck off the air. It may not win the war against such hatred and threats of violence but it will be a strong sign that in America, the rule of law still obtains.
Addendum: TBogg's post today underscores what I have been writing about.