Dear Editor-in-chief,

	The “opinion piece” ‘In Defense of Westboro Baptist Church’, by the esteemed 
“self appointed” guardian of our rights of free speech, Ian Gibson, demonstrates how 
corrupt our political culture has become. If the writer of this article had a true knowledge 
of the US Constitution, he would realize that the “Right of Free Speech” in the United 
States is not absolute. One cannot by law, yell ‘fire’ in a theater, or yell ‘I have a bomb’ 
aboard a commercial aircraft. As an American, it is very disconcerting to have our 
precious 1st Amendment of the US Constitution be interpreted in a very loose manner to 
be acceptable to extreme Liberal-left wing Socialist zealots who believe in anarchism, 
“Do what you feel no matter what the potential consequences”. The First Amendment 
must be tempered by common sense, a common sense that our ‘Founding Fathers” 
possessed but in recent years has become diluted in the morass of ‘Political Correctness”.

	The Westboro Baptist Church members are the “fascists” in this scenario, not the 
innocent victims, as portrayed by Mr. Gibson. The members of this “so called” church or 
cult hate the US military and all members former and current of our armed forces. They 
enjoy pressing their “freedom of speech” in one of life’s most intimate moments- the 
funeral of a loved one who has died unexpectedly. Historically, these moments have been 
considered off limits to political statements and demonstrations. These moments of 
extreme grief are times of reflection and prayer. This cult has made these solemn events 
targets for their ‘fascist’ venom. If the followers of this cult were really believers in the 
true ideals of our Constitution, they would stay a respectable distance from grieving 
family and exercise their “right of free speech”, where the family of the “hero military 
member” would not be able to hear them. This is all assuming that the members of this 
cult really care about their fellow citizens or are just “political opportunists” looking for 
headlines.

	Lastly, I would like to point out to Mr. Gibson, that he can say that he supports 
Freedom of Speech, but until he actually joins the military or some similar organization 
that participates in the National Defense, he should not portray himself as “Defending 
Freedom of Speech”. Unless he has a family member or relative who has served his 
nation, or he himself plans to join the armed forces after graduation, he has not yet earned 
the right to say he is “defending” our Freedom of Speech. Doing so, he insults all people 
like me who have family who have served. Above all, he insults our brave Soldiers, 
Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines, who have put their lives 
on the line for all our citizens. Mr. Gibson’s final comment about “renouncing his 
citizenship if he does not get his way” shows how little he values what is probably the 
most valued possession, (besides life itself) citizenship in the United States of America. 
Maybe he would feel more at home in Iran, Venezuela, Russia, China, or North Korea.

	Respectfully,
 
Gretchen E. Bartizal