"Free speech" activists stifle free speech at Tennessee rally

A poor, down-home Kentucky fella like me who has bad teeth and bad feet shouldn't have to correct a major TV station in a major city in this manner, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

I found this piece on the website of WKRN-TV in Nashville...

http://www.wkrn.com/story/22503524/forum-on-civil-rights-sparks-protest-rally-for-free-speech

The piece is headlined, "Forum on civil rights sparks protest rally for free speech." But the article reveals that the resulting protest wasn't for free speech at all. It was about denying free speech to others.

Folks in Manchester, Tennessee, tried to conduct an educational forum about how civil rights laws protect freedom of religion. But the meeting was crashed by right-wing extremists organized by Pamela Geller, an anti-Muslim bigot who came in from New York just for this event.

Just before the meeting, Geller's intolerant crew rallied outside the conference center. Many of them later went inside the event and heckled the speakers. They booed a U.S. attorney who spoke at the forum, and when he began talking about hate crimes, they shouted him down.

Nothing like denying somebody their free speech in the name of free speech.

The extremist mob also cheered an arson that destroyed a mosque in Columbia, Tennessee. They were so disruptive that the forum had to be cut short.

This event followed a scandal in which Coffee County Commissioner Barry West made a death threat on Facebook against Muslims.

WKRN can do better with its headlines. We can all do better at dealing with troublemaking bigots like Pamela Geller who have unlimited time to trudge across the country just to stir up mayhem.