# Hillbilly Protests, your tax dollars at work **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillbilly-protests-your-tax-dollars-at-work/169212 "2003-04-17T00:39:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillbilly-protests-your-tax-dollars-at-work/169212/41 "2003-04-21T17:16:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Satisfying Andy Licious \* > \*\*Egypt recently ran a miniseries based on [“The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mzionprotocol.html) If a TV station in the U.S. decided to air this, would you object? Why or why not? \*\* No, I myself would not object to the miniseries being shown. This country was founded on the principle that **all** views and opinions have the right to be voiced. Now, whether I would find the _content_ of the series objectionable is quite a different question. I mean, I live by the oft-quoted words of Voltaire: “I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” That’s one of the bedrock priniciples of this country. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillbilly-protests-your-tax-dollars-at-work/169212/42 "2003-04-21T17:35:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ISiddiqui \* > **You don’t seriously believe this do you?! So you think Congressmen should just keep quite on issues unless they are on the floor or the campaign trail?!** You continue to miss the salient point here: There is a world of difference between a Congressperson voicing an opinion (theirs or that of their constituents) and a Congressperson trying to use the power of their office to pressure a TV network into keeping a perfectly legal TV show off the air. I have no problem with the first, but I find the second to be going against the principles of this country. > [@](#): > > **What do you vote for when you vote for Congressmen? I vote for those that match my moral beliefs, because I want my Congressmen to PUSH my moral beliefs on a variety of issues. The best way is through laws, but protests will do just as well.** This is **VERY** scary to me. No, in fact I most certainly do **NOT** want my Congressmen to “push my moral beliefs”. I want my Congressmen to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the ideals and principles on which this country was founded. I want my Congressmen to have the fortitude and the belief in those principles to the point that they can support the right of opposing or disagreeable views to exist, right down to allowing a TV show that they find reprehensible. One more time I will say: That’s a bedrock principle of this country, and I don’t like having Congressmen who go against it. On the other hand, when a matter of law comes before Congress, when the Congressmen are in a position to decide what bills to introduce or support, then of course I prefer a Congressman who is aligned with my particular beliefs. But you seem to continually want to make a generalization out of this very specific issue. The **specific** issue here is whether Congressmen should be trying to pressure a TV network into keeping a perfectly legal TV show off the air. And in that specific case, I strongly believe that they should **not**. > [@](#): > > **Yes it is. Laws are moral opinions, and people don’t vote for Congressmen simply based on the laws they will pass, but also for the moral opinions they will address.** And, personally, I find this objectionable. If I followed your way of thinking, that would then mean that I would be want Congressmen that would be trying to change the voting process in this country so that people couldn’t vote that way. That’s so absurd on the face of it that it sounds like a joke. But it’s really no different than what you seem to be supporting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillbilly-protests-your-tax-dollars-at-work/169212.md?page=2)