Hearts Eaten Out 4 Ronald Reagan!

W has finally had the impact on the Supreme Court that American conservatives hoped you would.

The U.S. Supreme Court, with two new appointees by President Bush, is showing itself to be far more conservative and more deeply divided than in the recent past – despite Chief Justice Roberts' talk of consensus. Four out of five cases decided June 25 were 5-4 rulings. [emphasis added]

TalkLeft reads Stevens' amazing dissent for us. A snippet:

. . . To the extent the Court independently finds that “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS” objectively amounts to the advocacy of illegal drug use—in other words, that it can most reasonably be interpreted as such—that conclusion practically refutes itself. This is a nonsense message, not advocacy. The Court’s feeble effort to divine its hidden meaning is strong evidence of that. Ante,at 7 (positing that the banner might mean, alternatively, “ ‘[Take] bong hits,’ ” “ ‘bong hits [are a good thing],’ ” or “ ‘[we take] bong hits’ ”). Frederick’s credible and uncontradicted explanation for the message—he just wanted to get on television—is also relevant because a speaker who does not intend to persuade his audience can hardly be said to be advocating anything.7 But most importantly, it takes real imagination to read a “cryptic” message (the Court’s characterization, not mine, see ibid., at 6) with a slanting drug reference as an incitement to drug use. Admittedly, some high school students (including those who use drugs) are dumb. Most students, however, do not shed their brains at the schoolhouse gate, and most students know dumb advocacy when they see it. The notion that the message on this banner would actually persuade either the average student or even the dumbest one to change his or her behavior is most implausible. That the Court believes such a silly message can be proscribed as advocacy underscores the novelty of its position, and suggests that the principle it articulates has no stopping point.

And by the way: Snugglebunnies! Snugglebunnies! Snuggle . . .

tags technorati : Reagan Bush Supreme Court Justice Stevens Snugglebunnies