IS OUR 1ST AMENDMENT OUR 1ST PROBLEM?

Look, this has to stop...! Not the use of our foundational 1st amendment, but of its 24/7 misuse...! Scan even the most erudite newspapers, magazines and websites. Count for yourself -- 9 out of every 10 comments is a negative. A blistering critique of a questioned politician or policy, of a short-of-the-mark artist or athlete, of any celebrity that's handy, and of any city or campus or country the writer feels qualified to dismiss in a few acidic paragraphs.

It's that adjective "qualified" that sticks like a bone in my throat. At the ball park I can endure the bombastic buffoon catcalling the pitcher. I can tolerate the passionate protesters who raise their voice in a town hall meeting. But my Aunt Matilda barking orders over the shoulder of the surgeon operating on my Father? Look, lady, free speech and carefree speech are two enormously different phenomena. Who the hell let you in here!

So, no argument with the principle of free speech. It's the current practice that has me worried. Like a passenger in a leaky life raft listening to the raging dissenter whose rage is rocking the boat. Maybe the seaman at the controls would be better served by helping not hectoring him. Have you ever thought about shifting your mouth into forward rather than always reverse? Put another way, a navy of all admirals isn't going to win many battles.

If the boat-rockers' explanation is "majority rules," how does their rocking majority help us get to shore by shouting down the navigational expert at the helm? Dissent, discussion, debate, yes! Venting your spleen just because you have one, no!

Here's the problem. We can see many of the shores we all want to reach. Only we disagree on many of the routes. That's a constitutional and moral right that we have and hold dear. But, look, can we life-rafters at least agree on this much? We're all -- each and every one of us -- is in the same damn leaky boat!