The above video is a clip of news coverage on the Supreme Court case regarding the rights of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas to protest military funerals. The difference in this clip and the hundreds you have probably already seen, this is from an Australian news network. If you pay attention in the very beginning, the anchor sends the story to his North American correspondent. I find this story to be riveting and expected it to receive national news coverage, but I was a bit shocked when I saw the international coverage this particular topic has garnished. I personally could not be more ashamed of the attention the Westboro Baptist Church has brought to the United States. I agree with Timothy P. Cahill of the State House News Service when he said "The men and women of the United States armed forces who have given their lives for our freedom deserve all the honor and respect we can offer,’’ Cahill goes on to state, "I hope the Supreme Court recognizes that these sideshow protests are not legitimate dissent, but a cynical attempt to infringe on the religious and privacy rights of families to grieve with dignity. The protesters can make their voices heard anywhere else under the First Amendment, but a funeral setting is inappropriate. Our laws should give families the room to mourn without excessive disruption by outside groups." I agree with free speech rights of the members of the Westboro Baptist Church, however there is a time and a place for everything and a military funeral is not the time nor the place for this hateful and disrespectful display of their freedoms (freedoms might I add that are secured for them as they sit home while the military fights for them abroad).
