Nothstine's Law of Free Speech

This one has been hanging around in the to-do file for several weeks, and although the event isn't topical now, the issue is.

First, a reminder of one of the bedrock principles here at p3: Nothstine's Law of Free Speech:

If defending free speech and thought doesn't hurt at least a little, you're probably not doing it right.

Case in point:

Tensions in the Middle East are being played out on Portland's mass transit system. A pro-Palestinian group recently paid for an ad on buses and trains about the plight of Palestinian refugees. The ads depicted a shrinking Palestinian territory over the years and a growing Israel. Next to a series of maps, the ad read: "4.7 million Palestinians are classified by the U.N as refugees."

A pro-Israeli group has now responded with ads describing opponents of Israel as "savage" and carrying the words: "Defeat Jihad."

The new ads started running Tuesday. They were purchased by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a group run by blogger Pamela Geller.

Geller is a right-wing anti-Arab, islamophobic attention whore who saw 9-11 as the chance to make her career.

Under Oregon's constitution, her free-speech rights are more robust than under the Federal Constitution. So lucky for her that something bordering on hate speech is permissible here.