Flipping The Bird

A UAW union worker at a Ford plant in Detroit called Donald J Trump a “pedophile protector,” a pointed reference to Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Trump  was winding down a speech to autoworkers, and he did not like the remark. He responded with a vulgar gesture commonly known as “flipping the bird” to which he added a vulgar  two-word epithet.

“Flippin; the bird” ias an expression of contempt, anger, and direct insult, a vulgar way of telling another “to f*** off.” I don’t know if Mr. Trump is the only president of the US to use this form of contempt against another person, but it’s a pretty safe bet he’s the first Chief Exe cutive to do it publicly.

To my surprise, flipping the bird, even to a police officer, (not recommended) is protected as free speech, unless the “flipper” follows up with actions that endanger the well-being of the “flippee,” or the “flippee” takes action that endangers the “flipper.”

Under the umbrella of free speech, anyone has the right to speak his point of view directly to the president of the United States. 

Boiled down to its basics, freedom of speech limits the government (federal, state, and local) from censoring or punishing anyone for speaking their opinions. This includes spoken or written words, carrying protest signs, wearing religious symbols or clothing, regardless of the message or point of view they express.

Warning your neighbors of impending danger from any source, whether it’s an approaching hurricane, a registered sex offender living nearby,  or peanuts in your home baked cookies, such warnings are protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. 

Imagine what would have happened if Tory colonists who were loyal to King George and the English Army had used weapons to prevent Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott from warning the Massachusetts countryside that the British were coming to invade Boston.

Citizens who blow whistles to indicate that ICE agents are in the neighborhood, or who photograph government agents using unnecessary force to detain or arrest individuals without giving them a chance to have a fair hearing, are exercising their civic responsibilities as specified in the First Amendment. 

Although  Mr. Trump was within his rights as a U.S. citizen to flip the bird to a protestor, I personally regret he chose to use a vulgar symbol and vulgar words to express his anger. 

I hoped he would respond with some presidential-like rebuttal, maybe using a Shakespearean put down: “More of your conversation would infect my brain.” (Coriolanus, Act 2, Scene 1).

 Fortunately, neither he nor a Secret Service agent pulled a gun and shot the outspoken auto worker, an action which has become a far too common way of showing anger or settling disputes in our country. 

Or Mr. Trump might have closed his middle and other fingers into a fist and said “You wanna make somethin’ of it?” No, that’s not in his DNA.

I offer Mr. Trump a retort known to generations of young Americans which never failed to produce the desired results: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”

Especially if his Justice Department continues to refuse releasing any additional Epstein Files.