Bong Hits Cause Rift Between Bush And Religious Right

The first two words of this post's title should probably be in quotes, but punctuation was never one of my strengths. Anyway, it looks like our highest court has a major free speech case on its docket next week (from the New York Times):

A Supreme Court case about the free-speech rights of high school students, to be argued on Monday, has opened an unexpected fissure between the Bush administration and its usual allies on the religious right.

As a result, an appeal that asks the justices to decide whether school officials can squelch or punish student advocacy of illegal drugs has taken on an added dimension as a window on an active front in the culture wars, one that has escaped the notice of most people outside the fray. And as the stakes have grown higher, a case that once looked like an easy victory for the government side may prove to be a much closer call.

On the surface, Joseph Frederick’s dispute with his principal, Deborah Morse, at the Juneau-Douglas High School in Alaska five years ago appeared to have little if anything to do with religion — or perhaps with much of anything beyond a bored senior’s attitude and a harried administrator’s impatience.

As the Olympic torch was carried through the streets of Juneau on its way to the 2002 winter games in Salt Lake City, students were allowed to leave the school grounds to watch. The school band and cheerleaders performed. With television cameras focused on the scene, Mr. Frederick and some friends unfurled a 14-foot-long banner with the inscription: “Bong Hits 4 Jesus.” * * *

The student, after receiving a ten-day suspension for his efforts, sued the principal and the Juneau School Board, who are both represented in this litigation by Ken Starr, the right-wing sex freak best known for his role in the PenisGate Scandal.

The Religious Right is concerned about this case because they see it as an attack on the religious freedom of students, which is hysterical because the kid who designed the banner testified that he first saw the slogan on a snowboard and that he used it so the banner would be "meaningless and funny," which would help it "get on television.”