I rarely agree with the editorials the knee-jerk liberals on the News & Observer edit page staff write, but I did today. Surprisingly, they came down in favor of Tea Party protesters being able to have flags and signs on poles at their rally today:
Certainly it would be reasonable to ban weapons from rallies and protests – and yes, some poles can fall into that category – but to apply the rule to ordinary flag and sign supports goes too far. Particularly so because there’s been no rally-related violence near the Capitol that we’re aware of.
In the absence of a real threat, governmental restrictions on speech should be as rare and light as possible. After all, protests (of whatever political flavor) aren’t some occasional annoyance to be tolerated – they’re what the original tea partiers, Boston harbor edition, were all about.
So, kudos to the N&O. And don’t disappoint me later by telling me that some leftist or union thug convinced them to write this because they want to carry poles at their next protest.
