Tim Pawlenty Doesn't Understand the First Amendment

A statement from the GOP 2012 aspirant:

I think grassroots politics is the politics of passion. It's fueled by energy and by concern and patriotism and a lot of other motives. But to say that the acts of an apparently deranged and mentally disturbed person somehow should be assigned to various other individuals because they are passionate in their political speech or rhetoric, I think is first of all, premature and second of all, unfair.

I think people need to focus on the facts. We could all benefit from some more civil and thoughtful discourse but I don't think you want to put a chiling effect on people's free speech rights -- and say "you know, you can't be passionate and say you can't be energetic.You can't be deeply moved by what you believe."

Tim Pawlenty falls into a trap that many people have difficulty: not understanding the First Amendment. The Constitution prohibits the government -- state actors -- from restricting Americans' ability to speak. It does not, however, shield those who use over-the-top rhetoric from criticism from private individuals, nor does it mean that just because Americans' have a right to use such inflammatory language that it is right for them to do so.

This gets back to what I was writing yesterday. In their haste to preemptively defend against charges that the too often violent tone of political rhetoric today may have some connection to the rise in political violence in the country (not just the horrific acts of this weekend, but also the earlier attack on the office of Gabrielle Giffords, the intentional severing of a gas line at the house of Tom Perriello's brother and other such events that occurred during the period of heated debate over healthcare reform), these voices on the right are entirely missing the point: there's absolutely nothing wrong with toning down the rhetoric.

Yes, everyone in this country has a right to use over-the-top language. But that doesn't mean they have to. And, even more importantly, it doesn't mean they have the right to do so without possibility of criticism from their fellow citizens.