Here is Justice Alito writing for the dissent in Walker v. Sons of Confederate Veterans. Alito and his brethren Roberts, Scalia and Kennedy think that what is on a license plate is private speech (that can't be regulated) and not government speech (government has the right to say what government wants):
"Here is a test. Suppose you sat by the side of a Texas highway and studied the license plates on the vehicles passing by. You would see, in addition to the standard Texas plates, an impressive array of specialty plates. (There are now more than 350 varieties.) You would likely observe plates that honor numerous colleges and universities. You might see plates bearing the name of a high school, a fraternity or sorority, the Masons, the Knights of Columbus, the Daughters of the American Revolution, a realty company, a favorite soft drink, a favorite burger restaurant, and a favorite NASCAR driver. As you sat there watching these plates speed by, would you really think that the sentiments reflected in these specialty plates are the views of the State of Texas and not those of the owners of the cars? If a car with a plate that says “Rather Be Golfing” passed by at 8:30 am on a Monday morning, would you think: 'This is the official policy of the State—better to golf than to work?' If you did your viewing at the start of the college football season and you saw Texas plates with the names of the University of Texas’s out-of-state competitors in upcoming games— Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, the University of Oklahoma,Kansas State, Iowa State—would you assume that the State of Texas was officially (and perhaps treasonously) rooting for the Longhorns’ opponents? And when a car zipped by with a plate that reads 'NASCAR – 24 Jeff Gordon,' would you think that Gordon (born in California, raised in Indiana, resides in North Carolina) is the official favorite of the State government?"
Yes, Justices: In each instance it IS government speech. The government's message in each case is: ""Whatever this guy happens to be saying on his license plate, we don't mind."
If the dissenters were right, I would have the constitutional right to buy a vanity plate that reads FUCKGOP. Provided it wasn't already taken.
Sometimes even brilliant justices think stupid thoughts. Or get carried away by stupid politics.