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Newt Gingrich Says Free Speech May Be Forfeit
At a dinner honoring those who stand up for freedom of speech, former House speaker Newt Gingrich issued his opinion that the idea of free speech in the U.S. needs to be re-examined in the interest of fighting terrorism. Gingrich said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message. The article has few details of what Gingrich actually said beyond the summary above, and no analysis pointing out how utterly clueless the suggestion is given the Internet's nature and trans-national reach.
And many of those that "get it" don't get it. You can no longer reshape the government with FORCE by bearing arms. Their guns are much bigger than our guns.
The question Gingrich is examining is hardly new: It is okay to restrict speech when it's designed to incite violence? If I say to you, "I will give your family ten thousand dollars if you set off a bomb on a city bus," that is not free speech. Why is it free speech if I say it through a website? If an anti-abortion website posts a list of abortion doctors, along with their addresses and photographs of all their family members, and the words "Murder these Murderers" across the top, and there's a phone number at the bottom of the page that will put you in touch with someone who knows how to make letter bombs, is that free speech? What Gingrich is saying is that such a website is not protected by the First Amendment, even if it's accompanied by a religious tirade. And if the religous tirade is used as a recruiting tool for a terrorist organization, it's also on shaky ground, because there's no difference between saying "Kill all the X" and saying "In the name of God, kill all the X."
Incidentally fuck you for saying saying "Muslim" when the GP said "terrorism." Plenty of terrorists have used Christianity to justify their actions, too. Look at Eric Rudolph. Look at the Klan. I suspect a law against saying "We must destroy America in the name of Allah" would apply to one saying "We must bomb abortion clinics in the name of Jesus."
As for Gingrich's other two points, have you noticed that laws restricting how people can spend their money on political campaigns have reduced the quality of political debate in the US? Why does my right to voice political opinions end when I pitch in to buy a TV spot? And when discussing the separation of church and state, "church" means any religion, not just one you're feeling petulant about.
Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.
This is not my sandwich.
While I agree with your point... you brought Nazis into the argument.
Sorry. You lose.