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Quotational Therapy: Part 116 -- Newt Gingrich, On Free Speech.

Making Sense-

Newt Gingrich had the opportunity to respond to and elaborate on the "controversial" comments he made regarding Islam and the First Amendment:

MR. RUSSERT: Are you concerned, however, that with carte blanche, that the government could move in and say, “This mosque is closed, this Web site is shut down”?

FMR. REP. GINGRICH: No. You have—you have more censorship in the McCain-Feingold bill, which blocks the right of free speech about American campaigns than you have from the FBI closing down jihadists. We’ve already limited the First Amendment right of free speech by a set of rules that are stunningly absurd. In California, you can raise soft money to run negative commercials attacking your opponent through the state party and you cannot raise soft money to run a positive commercial on behalf of your own candidate. That’s California state law. It’s stunningly stupid and a clear infringement of free speech.

So we’ve had a 30-year period of saying it’s OK to infringe free speech as long as it’s about politics. But now if you want to be a jihadist, and you want to go kill people, well who are we to say that’s morally wrong? I think that’s suicidal. I’m using the word deliberately. A country—a Supreme Court justice once said “The Constitution is not a suicide pact.” This country has every right to defend itself, and you saw the same thing recently on this U.S. Airlines provocation, where you had six people go way out of their way to cause trouble, and then claim they were infringed upon. And I think, frankly, the president should invite that U.S. Airlines crew to the White House and thank them, because we ought to set a standard that if you’re provocative about killing people, we’re not going to show you any mercy.

Indeed. It is truly amazing that we are so willing as a society to surrender our free speech rights in the name of "campaign finance reform," but the moment that anyone suggests shutting down jihadi/terrorist websites or arresting Imams for inciting violence, well, that's just going too far.

And not-so-incidentally, Newt Gingrich really needs to be in every single primary/caucus debate for 2008. His "electability" is not his greatest asset, but Newt Gingrich is one of the few political figures out there today who has steadfast conservative principles AND creative/pragmatic solutions to real world concerns. He is also the single individual who comes to mind when considering who "the right" would make its debate team captain. Newt Gingrich is not necessarily the handsomest or the media darling with the highest approval rating, but he is someone we-- at the very least-- need in the debates. And in "the debate," more generally.

Previous Quotational Therapy Session:

Washington

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Posted by Will Franklin · 18 December 2006 03:01 PM

Comments

Posted by: zsa zsa at December 18, 2006 03:58 PM

Posted by: zsa zsa at December 18, 2006 04:01 PM