The American constitution protects the right to free speech even of those who have nothing to say. Take, for example, the banner that Joseph Frederick, then an 18-year-old schoolboy, unfurled beside an Olympic parade in Alaska five years ago. It read: "Bong hits 4 Jesus". Was he mocking Christianity? Or promoting marijuana? Neither, says Mr Frederick. He copied the slogan from a snowboard. He did not think it meant anything particular. But he calculated that it would be funny and controversial. Plus, it might get him on television.
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