Trust me, I know that arguing with the mods and disagreeing with their course of action does nothing. I've just come to realize that on this board I've have to try to be very measured in what I say and even careful of the smilies I use. No other way around it, I'm afraid...that's just how it is.
That being said, let's get back on topic. I do think there have to be limits to free speech. We can't have people yell out threats in public places and cause mass chaos.
There was an issue about this the other day about a women who wore an anti-Bush shirt on a plane and was asked to either change or leave. She ended up being kicked off the flight for her shirt (granted it did have a 'curse' word in it). Still, isn't it her right to wear a shirt that depicts Bush in a negative light? In all honesty I'm more offended by those shirts that a lot of guys wear that have half naked women plastered all over them (a lot of "cowboys" at my high school wore them). But they're allowed, as they should be.
I do think, that especially in your early years of schooling, free speech needs to have limits (even though that sounds like an oxymoron). Someone shouldn't be allowed to come into class and damn every child their to hell because they don't believe the same thing. On the flipside someone shouldn't be able to come in and say that all religious people are a bunch of idiots because they believe in a God. Young kids might not see the difference between fact and extremism. Older kids/young adults can see a difference. I mean if someone told me in the 5th or 6th grade that I was going to hell because I wasn't religious, it would probably have really bothered me. And now in college I actually had that happen...and it just made me laugh.
While you will always find people who take offense to anything you say, I think that as long as you aren't like truly hurting someone, especially just out of the sake of being hurtful, then it shouldn't matter what you say. Look at Bill Bennett's remarks about how to reduce crime we should abort all black babies. Is that appropriate? Of course not, and it was very offensive to many. But the argument exists that it's his right to say remarks such as that. Same with Barbara Bush. He remarks after Hurricane Katrina were appalling...but she had the right to say them.
Free speech can certainly hurt you though...like the two cases above. They were just executing their right to free speech, but there were backlashes to their comments. That's the way I look at it. If someone says something that is completely untrue or completely stupid, odds are it'll come back to hurt them.
I think I should be able to talk on the phone and be able to say something negative about the President without having to wonder in the back of my mind if my call is being monitored...though I'd hope they'd have more important things to do than monitor my call.
As far as the media goes, they are limited in their free speech. You look at something like the debates or President Bush's press conferences. All the questions had been approved ahead of time. In the debates Kerry and Bush knew what they were going to be asked for the most part. Most of Bush's press conferences are the same way. And sadly, nobody in the media stands up to ask a question that wasn't approved, because then they probably won't be invited to anymore press conferences. It seems crazy that everything has to be pre-approved and if they don't like it, they don't have to answer it and it's not even asked.
Rather long post of ramblings...hope they made some sort of sense though.