I'll add in, perhaps unnecessarily, that while having served (especially in wartime, and most especially in a hot zone) gives a man's opinion a certain special weight, the converse is not necessarily true. You cannot question someone's patriotism and devotion to country simply because they never served. (I mean the generic "you" here, not you personally.)

You'd be impugning the patriotism of nearly all women, who either could not serve or could only serve in the limited capacities until recently. (My mother, BTW, welded Victory ships until she married in 1944.)

You'd be impugning everyone who was classed 4-F. (I never put it to the final test, but I believe I may have been 4-F in my eligibility years for reasons that were later surgically corrected.)

You'd be impugning those who are sincere conscientious objectors - and they do exist.

Military service can be a quick touchstone to a man's position and thinking, but right now, with no trouble at all, I could name ten combat veterans whose political and ethical outlooks run the full gamut, including expatriates who will not set foot in the US again for considered ethical reasons. Any notion that it is a hallmark of a Jimmy Stewart (note I didn't say John "draft dodger" Wayne), flag-saluting, right-wing Patriot is largely nonsense.

So I really hope that wasn't where you intended to go with this. :D

I'm not going anywhere with it. Peace...........

Seems to me the the intent of Free Speech was for the citizen to be free to say whatever he wished about the Govt. I doubt it was ever intended to be a weapon for one citizen to use against another. Like politics now being banned here has nothing to do with Free Speech as this is a private, non-Governmental BB and the board is 100% allowed to make their own rules. Were it a Govt board, that would not be the case.

Seems to me that the Phelps gang disturbed the peace and should have been arrested for that as they were not protesting any Govt entity. And the Snyder's were not doing anything political or to the Phelps gang. And possibly a case could be made that they violated Snyder's civil rights.
I remember when our rights and Freedom came WITH responsibility.

Certainly free speech is limited in certain cases, notably libel and slander, which MUST be against individuals (corporations and the government cannot be libeled or slandered). Also the classic case of shouting "Theater!" in a crowded fire.

But otherwise free speech means exactly that, and even in the cases of libel and slander, the speech cannot be prohibited in advance, only judged afterwards. It's not limited to individuals speaking about government.

Hmmmm...how many Free Speech cases have you handled?

I think you need to define "combat service" Gunner. I served in combat (taking enemy fire and giving it back) in Iraq. The political views of the guys (no females allowed in my unit) in my unit were all conservative. When you get to the support units with non combat MOS soldiers the views seem to vary more. My.02

I don't mean "service during wartime" - I mean in the sh*t, CIB, Purple Heart, Silver Star, DFC combat.

I'll accept that those you knew in Iraq were "conservative" by some standard, but I know a number of recent vets who would not be particularly comfortable with that label. A political stance also covers quite a bit of ground and someone who might be generally regarded as "conservative" might have opinions quite "liberal" about free speech.

You might do some reading about the political beliefs of Eisenhower if you disbelieve my contention. Compare and contrast with those of JFK. I suspect that if I were to anonymously summarize each man's beliefs, you'd mix them up from what you might know from popular belief.