{"id":8402,"date":"2005-11-28T10:58:11","date_gmt":"2005-11-28T17:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2005\/11\/28\/license-to-babble.html"},"modified":"2010-10-08T07:39:30","modified_gmt":"2010-10-08T13:39:30","slug":"license_to_babb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/11\/28\/license_to_babb.html","title":{"rendered":"License to babble"},"content":{"rendered":"

When did license plates become billboards<\/a> for, well, everything?<\/p>\n

State Rep. Steve Hurst, D-Munford, has prefiled a bill in the Alabama House that would require most Alabama car tags to include the phrase “God Bless America.” Some specialty license plates and motorcycle tags would be exempt. […] Hurst said “God Bless America” would not replace anything currently on Alabama car tags. State law requires that the phrase “Heart of Dixie” be on Alabama plates. “Heart of Dixie” historically appeared at the top of plates, but was moved to the bottom of the tag when former Gov. Don Siegelman had the plates redesigned and put “Stars Fell on Alabama,” also a song title, at the top. Hurst said he believes the plates could be designed so that there would be room for “God Bless America” without removing “Heart of Dixie” or “Stars Fell on Alabama.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hey, guys, here’s an idea — why not focus on the license plate number, <\/em>rather than seeing how many mottos, song titles, and declarations of Christianity we can fit on that little piece of metal (which is often further bracketed by a holder with yet other logos, mottos, and dealership names)?<\/p>\n

Of course, if we run out of room on license plates, we can start legislating mottos on classroom walls:<\/p>\n

Rep. Jimmy Martin, D-Clanton, said he plans to reintroduce a bill that would permit the posting of “In God We Trust” on classroom walls in Alabama public schools. […] The bill to post “In God We Trust” on classroom walls has been introduced the last two years, but hasn’t received final passage.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, this isn’t a matter of religion, but (wink wink) has a strong secular purpose.<\/p>\n

Martin said he believes putting the words on classroom walls will help restore discipline in schools. “Anybody who recognizes God will be respectful of everyone,” Martin said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Riiiiiight.<\/p>\n

(via J-Walk<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When did license plates become billboards for, well, everything? State Rep. Steve Hurst, D-Munford, has prefiled a bill in the Alabama House that would require most Alabama car tags to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,9,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cars","category-politics-law","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27049,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/03\/12\/ah-dixie-youre-so-zany-in-a-horrifying-way.html","url_meta":{"origin":8402,"position":0},"title":"Ah, Dixie, you're so zany. In a horrifying way","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 12-Mar-12 9:00am","format":false,"excerpt":"Or, as Roger Ailes, President of Fox News put it: \"The 'truth' is whatever people will believe.\" #ddtbReshared post from +Talking Points MemoPoll finds 52% of Mississippi GOP thinks Obama is a Muslim, 45% of Alabama GOPers agree: Embedded Link Poll: GOP Voters In Deep South Think Obama Is Muslim,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138881,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/25\/the-end-of-marriage-in-alabama-not-really.html","url_meta":{"origin":8402,"position":1},"title":"The End of Marriage in Alabama (not really)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-May-19 12:43pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Dropping most state marriage paperwork is a good thing for sketchy reasons.","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/wedding-rings2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":43581,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/15\/license-plates-and-free-speech.html","url_meta":{"origin":8402,"position":2},"title":"License plates and free speech","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 15-Jul-14 9:47am","format":false,"excerpt":"Interesting (split) ruling from the 5th Circuit, confirming the idea that license plates with messages, symbols, etc., are personal speech by the person displaying them\u00a0(not state speech by the government issuing them), and therefore Texas cannot block\u00a0license plates by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, including the Confederate flag.Aside from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8750,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/04\/25\/bumper_crop.html","url_meta":{"origin":8402,"position":3},"title":"Bumper crop","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 25-Apr-06 7:21pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The original intent of license plates was to demonstrate that someone had purchased a state (or county or city) license for their vehicle. Eventually, they became a handy law enforcement...","rel":"","context":"In "Media & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Media & Culture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131343,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/08\/23\/no-colorado-plates-are-not-probable-cause-to-stop-cars.html","url_meta":{"origin":8402,"position":4},"title":"No, Colorado plates are not probable cause to stop cars","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 23-Aug-16 3:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Presuming that people from Colorado have marijuana in the car is a violation of the 4th Amendment. As the 10th Circuit noted, that would allow stopping cars from more than half of the states in the country, based on laws about recreational or medical marijuana.That seems remarkably sensible. Kansas cops\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51510,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/18\/license-plates-as-government-speech.html","url_meta":{"origin":8402,"position":5},"title":"License plates as government speech","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 18-Jun-15 10:21am","format":false,"excerpt":"It's hard to divorce my thoughts on this from the subject matter involved, but my feelings on this are mixed.On the one hand, license plates are not bumper stickers, but are issued by the state government. As such, they have the right to decide what messages they are willing to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8402\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}