# Well, well well, look at what funeral Fred Phelps and Co. plan to picket next? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556 "2008-11-06T23:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/1 "2008-11-06T23:50:05Z")
[Westboro Baptist Church will Picket Obama’s Grandmothers Funeral](http://www.bowlofserial.com/2008/11/06/westboro-baptist-church-will-picket-obamas-grandmothers-funeral/) Of course, this time, with all Secret Service swarming all over the place, I’d like to see them get NEAR. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/2 "2008-11-06T23:54:23Z")
_I’d_ like to see them get near then get taken into custody, or be the victims of secret service marksmen. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/3 "2008-11-06T23:55:03Z")
> [@Fucking Nutbar](#): > > Obama says he will use the White House as a Bully Pulpit to advance the cause of murdering more babies and same-sex marriage. Well, can you blame Obama? I mean, once I heard about his pro-baby-murder policies, he had my vote! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/4 "2008-11-07T00:14:21Z")
Obama wants to murder same-sex marriage? Isn’t that on the Phelps agenda too? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/5 "2008-11-07T00:20:14Z")
Is the funeral in Hawaii? Are those insane vermin really going to fly all the way out there? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/6 "2008-11-07T00:23:12Z")
What ever happened to that multimillion dollar verdict they were ordered to pay? I know they were ordered to post some kind of a bond when they appealed and didn’t, and there were accountings going on of their individual and church assets (Phred himself has no assets), but is it still in the appeals process or what? And are they even _trying_ to make sense anymore? There’s not enough of a record to know if Madelyn Dunham is in hell or not. She was a wife, mother, bank employee, and that’s about what’s known of her. If it’s raising a heretical or ungodly grandson (which is really stretching the reasons one is sent to hell), the Phelps have several apostate family members of their own. Is it against board policy to hope that Pele is in one of her bitchy moods and drowns them in lave while they’re there? Or that one of the grandchildren wears a cursed amulet unearthed in a construction site and then goes surfing? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/7 "2008-11-07T00:49:25Z")
I also seem to remember they said something about picketing Jenna Bush’s wedding. I’m sure THAT would have worked QUITE well. Jesus, forget the Secret Service-I’m guessing in that case-hell, at Madelyn’s funeral as well-we’re talking FBI, here! Gah. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/8 "2008-11-07T00:59:38Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Jesus, forget the Secret Service-I’m guessing in that case-hell, at Madelyn’s funeral as well-we’re talking FBI, here! Gah. Not to mention the militant Obamajadin, to whom Hawaii is Bethlehem and Ms. Dunham their Saint Anne. And not to mention that Dog the Bounty Hunter is in Hawaii, armed to the teeth, has surveillance equipment, a larger clan than Phred has, and is very eager to do something on camera that says “See! Me good white trash! Me whomp hell out this bad white trash family for new brown Father!” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/9 "2008-11-07T01:07:00Z")
It seems that when it’s a funeral where they may get pushback, these days they mostly merely _announce_ they’re picketing, to get publicity. Some times they’ll also announce in the hope that, as happened when they threatened to picket the victims of the Amish schoolhouse shooting, some media outlet will bribe them with airtime for staying away. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/10 "2008-11-07T01:09:18Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > It seems that when it’s a funeral where they may get pushback, these days they mostly merely _announce_ they’re picketing, to get publicity. Some times they’ll also announce in the hope that, as happened when they threatened to picket the victims of the Amish schoolhouse shooting, some media outlet will bribe them with airtime for staying away. For Heath Ledger, they didn’t show up once they were informed/found out Australia isn’t quite as sweet in their freedom of speech laws as we are. Besides which, it’s expensive as all hell to get there, and their expenditures are being watched very closely. It would be lovely to see them added to the bonfire with Dubya and other things that are going away. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/11 "2008-11-07T01:09:34Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Is it against board policy to hope that Pele is in one of her bitchy moods and drowns them in lave while they’re there? I’m in! I’m a bit fuzzy on asking Pele to be bitchy proper prayer protocol - would it be better to sacrifice my Repulican neighbor’s ewe, or four of her chickens? Do I need to specify aa aa or pahoehoe? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/12 "2008-11-07T01:12:00Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > _I’d_ like to see them get near then get taken into custody, or be the victims of secret service marksmen. I wouldn’t. I despise these assholes - no, wait, that’s not fair. I don’t want to compare them to essential body parts that everybody has. So: I despise these inflamed, septic appendices, _but_ - They have the right to demonstrate in whatever cause they wish, in whatever public space they wish, so long as they do not interfere with traffic flows or public safety. That’s what our First Amendment is about - it doesn’t mean a damn thing if it only protects popular speech, or even _tolerable_ speech. It is when people engage in wildly _unpopular_ speech that they need the First Amendment most dearly. And we, in turn, need people to be able to engage in unpopular speech - abolition, women’s rights, the Civil Rights Movement, gay rights, etc, etc were all once wildly unpopular causes, after all. They prevailed in the marketplace of ideas because the First Amendment gave them that space, and we’re better off for it. Of course, the ideas of the Phelps clan are loathesome beyond belief - let there be no mistake about that. But there will almost certainly be some other group, in the future, with wildly unpopular ideas that turn out to have real value for our society. We’ll want _them_ to be able to speak then - and so we must allow the Phelps group to speak today. I hate everything the Westboro Baptists Church stands for, but I hope their demonstration proceeds unhindered. Not for their sake, but for ours. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/13 "2008-11-07T01:12:32Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Is it against board policy to hope that Pele is in one of her bitchy moods and drowns them in lave while they’re there? Yeah, but wouldn’t that wreck the funeral goers themselves too? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/14 "2008-11-07T01:17:37Z")
Do we even know for sure that there will be a public funeral? In any case, with the President-Elect in attendance, the Secret Service won’t let them get within a 5 mile radius. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/15 "2008-11-07T01:19:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Do we even know for sure that there will be a public funeral? > > In any case, with the President-Elect in attendance, the Secret Service won’t let them get within a 5 mile radius. Not so - at least, I hope not. Protesters commonly line the parade route on Inauguration Day - they come within 20 or so meters of the President. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/16 "2008-11-07T01:27:08Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Not to mention the militant Obamajadin, to whom Hawaii is Bethlehem and Ms. Dunham their Saint Anne. > > And not to mention that Dog the Bounty Hunter is in Hawaii, armed to the teeth, has surveillance equipment, a larger clan than Phred has, and is very eager to do something on camera that says “See! Me good white trash! Me whomp hell out this bad white trash family for new brown Father!” You took the _brown_ acid, didn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/17 "2008-11-07T02:06:05Z")
Westboro has, in the past couple of years, adopted a policy of announcing they will show up, and then not showing up. In other words, at this point, they have degenerated into mere attention whores. I haven’t heard of them actually showing up in some time. I think they’re too broke to travel. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/18 "2008-11-07T02:12:38Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Obama wants to murder same-sex marriage? Isn’t that on the Phelps agenda too? No, he wants to murder the babies resulting from same sex marriages. I guess Phelps would approve of that. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/19 "2008-11-07T02:19:23Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Not so - at least, I hope not. Protesters commonly line the parade route on Inauguration Day - they come within 20 or so meters of the President. I read that as Protestants commonly line the parade route… Had me puzzled for some time as to why the SS would let Protestants 20 meters near the Pres and not other religious types. I need more sleep. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556/20 "2008-11-07T02:24:05Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I hate everything the Westboro Baptists Church stands for, but I hope their demonstration proceeds unhindered. Not for their sake, but for ours. So how do countries without hate speech protection laws stop themselves from collapsing into tyranny? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-well-well-look-at-what-funeral-fred-phelps-and-co-plan-to-picket-next/471556.md?page=2)