“Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker,” Chief Justice John Roberts said.

This may be one of the most difficult editorials we’ve had to write, because it entails supporting the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Westboro Baptist Church’s right to “free speech.”

Specifically, the case dealt with a multi-million dollar lawsuit from the family of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, one of many whose grief became a spectacle for Fred Phelps and Co., along with their vile anti-gay charade.

“We found out today that we can no longer bury our dead in this county with dignity,” said an obviously disgusted Albert Snyder, Matthew’s father, adding, “What is this country coming to?”

We sympathize with the Snyder family, and all families subjected to the Westboro Baptist Church and its hate crusade.

Preaching hate and intolerance under the roof of your own congregation is one thing, taking to the streets and proselytizing is another, but choosing to do so at the funeral services of our fallen patriots is nothing short of despicable.

Sadly, the very rights and freedoms those in our armed services have sworn to defend are the same rights bestowed upon all American citizens, which, sadly, includes an idiot from Kansas and his compatriots.

We can’t fault the Supreme Court for upholding the notion that a bigot and his cronies are allowed the right to espouse their hatred at wholly inappropriate venues, any more so than we can fault the Iowa Supreme Court for upholding the notion that sexual preference is of no significant government interest when it comes to bestowing marriage licenses.

That’s not to say they were particularly enthused:

“Westboro believes that America is morally flawed; many Americans might feel the same about Westboro. Westboro’s funeral picketing is certainly hurtful and its contribution to public discourse may be negligible,” Roberts said. “As a nation we have chosen a different course — to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”

In 2005, at American Legion Post 136 in Mulvane, Kan., the Patriot Guard Riders were formed to protect military funerals from Phelps and his cronies. How? Motorcycles and burly men, forming a nice barrier between the funeral and the circus.

The world could use more Patriot Guard Riders.

In the meantime, we take comfort in knowing the Supreme Court’s decision wasn’t just to uphold the rights of Fred Phelps, or hate speech, but also to uphold the right to speak out against them.

We’ve just exercised that right, we encourage you to do the same.