Do you agree with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposal
to curtail free speech in war time as a reaction to the Koran
burning in Florida?
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
“Do you agree with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposal to curtail free speech in war time as a reaction to the Koran burning in Florida?” ” Yes: 1 No: 8
? Dave Appling: “No, except for aiding the enemy or leaking sensitive information. But IMNSHO we have over-defined free speech. ‘Pastor’ Terry Jones has every right to express his opinion of Islam, orally or in print, however ignorant and un-Christian. This is very different from burning a sacred text in the virtual certainty of inciting riots, harming the war effort, and getting innocent people killed. That’s not free speech, that’s reckless endangerment.”
? Bert Berson: “No. I think that this minister is a terrorist and should be charged as such. What he has done is to explode a bomb in a public place to further his fundamentalist religious beliefs.”
? Bob Chidester: “No. Our First Amendment free speech rights should not be curtailed in war time or during a time of ‘kinetic military action’ or for any other Orwellian term this administration invents to try and put a less distasteful spin on war.”
? David Cohen: “No. While the actions in Florida are an insult to all people, our constitution gives us the right to express ourselves. Just as Mr. Jones has the right to do what he did, we the people have the right to express our outrage at his completely reprehensible act.”
? Dennis Kennedy: “Yes! In times of war, when many lives are at stake.”
? Julian Mancias: “No. I think that it undermines our Constitution.”
? Henry Miller: “NO! For one of the very few times, I can agree with my friend, Supreme Court Justice Nino Scallia, ‘ … don’t mess with the Constitution.’ Next thing you know, someone will suggest that we pass an amendment outlawing beer.”
? Jeff Nunes: “No. The beauty and the folly of the freedom of speech, is you have to take the good with the bad, and sometimes offensive. What is truly offensive here is that a U.S. Senator is 1) naïve enough to think that the burning of a Koran is really what motivates Muslim extremists to action against our armed forces, and 2) that he would consider curtailing one of our basic freedoms in response to the actions of crazy people – be they Muslim extremists or the Koran burning pastor. I guess it’s OK to constitutionally protect one’s right to offend thousands of U.S. veterans and citizens by allowing American flags to be burned, but Sen. Graham would limit speech so as not to offend extremists who are committed to our destruction anyway?”
? Jeff Smith: “No. A proposal to curtail free speech because it offends some radical Muslims is just plain wrong! We need to stop kowtowing to the rest of the world and stand up for what is right. Abdicating any of our principles, values, rights, or freedoms to appease evil is extremely foolish to say the least. Whose side are you on Mr. Graham?”Vote in
