Something To Ponder Over

I don't know too much about the background of the video below other than the group, Young American's for Liberty dared to speak out without the proper permit in Washington DC.



Are permits to assemble really the best route to go regarding the right to free speech and assemble? It's one way to help filter the system. If you need a permit to protest on the steps of City Hall, then it sorts out more of the random mob mentality. Takes planning in advance to get the permit and a chance to get the people organized as to where and when. But it also gives the Public Servant (Mayor, Senator, whoever the Public Servant is. And they are Servants to the Public) knowledge before hand so that they can be away.

There is a need to assemble sans permit. Say Senator Richard Head (State Notarealname) is called back to his home office for a day or two. What city bureaucracy can possess a permit to assemble in that amount of time? The same Sen. Head has been ignoring what his constituency has been telling him how to vote as Senator in this representative Republic. At that point, it wouldn't be an assemble but more of a spontaneous gathering of concerned and informed citizens who want their viewpoint heard.

Permits for speaking is a controlling issue. When government -- whether local, state or national -- is dictating who and who can't speak and assemble in a public area, is that still free speech anymore?

Cross posted here.