I am very proud to announce that I am now in the dictionary, and by that I mean the Urban Dictionary.  Very proud moment, and not just for me personally, and not just for the Monkey with a Gun blog and the String, but also for the First Amendment, the Constitution and the United States of America.

I routinely invoke Walter Sobchak’s great line from The Big Lebowski when he was asked to quiet down at the diner, even though, as The Dude correctly noted, “This is not a First Amendment thing, man.”  The Dude was legally correct, as there was clearly no state action, but still.  Walter did not watch his buddies die face down in the muck to only later be subjected to a “prior restraint.”  As Walter noted, our right to yell and scream, at a diner, or on a blog, is a BASIC FREEDOM.  We will not, indeed we cannot, be priorly restrained.

This came up today because SeaDick attempted to choke Mongo’s Free Speech with a Prior Restraint on his (alleged) first (maybe) blog.  I may or may not get into the substance of that dispute later, depending on my mood, but the key point was that Mongo could not, indeed shall not, be subjected to a prior restraint.  I then submitted “prior restraint” to the Urban Dictionary, with my definition and Walter’s quote, because of course I did.  My entry was quickly recognized as a suitable submission, published and then given the “Top Definition” award, of which I am admittedly proud, and which recognized the correctness of all my arguments to date on the subject.

Well, my day’s work is done.  I have done my part to defend the First Amendment, hold the line on freedom and officially recognize Walter Sobchak’s  application of “prior restraint,” now immortalized forever with “idyt” on the Urban Dictionary.  You’re welcome Americans!