The Westboro Wackos

Fred Phelps is without a doubt one of the worst human beings ever to have drawn breath on this planet Earth. He's the "pastor" and leader of Westboro Baptist, a "church" in Topeka, Kansas. Phelps and his flock are known for one thing only -- they demonstrate at the funerals of KIA soldiers, yelling derisively and brandishing signs like "God hates fags" and other similarly charming sentiments. Why? Phelps has convinced his followers that dead American soldiers represent God's punishment of our country for being tolerant of homosexuality. (Why, of course. That's only logical. Why didn't I think of that?) And it may be helpful to know that the entire, very small congregation of Westboro Baptist is comprised of Phelps' in-bred, cross-eyed, pointy-headed family members.

There's a case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Westboro wackos did their thing at the funeral of a fallen soldier, and the soldier's family is suing Phelps & friends for violating their right to privacy and causing them undue emotional distress. They claim they should not have been subjected to such hateful nonsense at a mournful, personal, private moment. And they're right.

Let's be clear -- Fred Phelps is a gigantic asshole who serves no good purpose in this world. All he does is agitate and provoke with his peculiarly insane brand of hatred, fear and ignorance. His immediate, painful death is devoutly to be hoped for. But . . . even this despicable piece of human filth has his free speech rights, and we've got to take the bad with the good. We may not always agree, but most forms of hate speech are Constitutionally protected. I suspect the Court will rule that this protection extends even to that fuckwad Fred Phelps.

(Minor clarification -- Phelps' dipshits do not actually crash funeral services or burials. Generally, they stay on roadsides or street corners in the general vicinity of the church or funeral parlor. This in no way excuses their behavior or their message. It is purely awful.)

If there is any silver lining in allowing Phelps to continue his demented demonstrations, it may be as a teaching device: If we cannot ignore him, we can hold him up as the prime example of what not to do, what not to be; a caricature of a paranoid, hate-filled man; a pathetic waste of a life. Don't be that guy!