Why We Have the First Amendment

Thanks to the First Amendment, we have the freedom of speech, the right to practice (or not practice) religion, the right to assemble, and the right to petition our government. Those rights apply to us all, even morons and bigots. They even apply to a guy by the name of Terry Jones in Gainesville, Florida. Jones is the head of a church called the Dove World Outreach Center. On September 11th, Jones and his group are holding what they call "International Burn a Koran Day." Nice, huh? Chris Matthews interviewed Jones tonight and asked him if he respected anyone enough that he would cancel the book-burning if that person asked him to. Jones responded that George W. Bush is one of the few leaders he respects, but he would not change his mind even at the request of the former president. I suspect that few people I know would have any respect for someone like Terry Jones, but everyone I know -- Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, believer or atheist -- would stand up for his right to say hateful, intolerant, and incendiary things and, in general, to make a fool of himself.