Posted on 01/10/2011 12:15:56 PM PST by jazusamo
Should someone send Rep. Robert Brady a copy of the First Amendment?
According to The Hill, the Democratic lawmaker “plans to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress.”
Let’s think about that for a moment. “A federal crime”: that’s a serious matter, right? And for what? For using “language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress.” My emphasis.
“Could be perceived as . . .” Rep. Brady (who is, by the way, up for reelection again in two years) singled out the now-famous target map on Sarah Palin’s Facebook page: “You can’t put bull’s-eyes or crosshairs on a United States congressman or a federal official,” said Brady.
Really? You Dems do it all the time. And bully for you. “Targeted,” “Crosshairs,” Bull’s eye”: they’re called figures of speech, Bob. Just as when you “campaign” for your seat, it’s a figure drawn from the world of military activity. The President of the United States advises his acolytes to follow “The Chicago Way”: “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” What d’ya think, Bob, is that an incitement to violence? Does it foster a “climate of hate”? Or is it figurative speech in a political context and understood to be so by all mentally competent adults?
Occasionally you hear about some innocent yokel who is taken to see a play by Shakespeare. All goes swimmingly until the Desdemona is throttled by Othello. Then the fellow leaps on to the stage to avenge the heroine.
Is our friend Bob, public servant from Pennsylvania, like that yokel?
I doubt it. I think it’s more likely that he sees in the Arizona shootings an opportunity. Partly it’s an opportunity to demonize conservatives: that’s the Krugman, Daily Kos strategy: pretend that when Sarah Palin publishes a map with crosshairs denominating possibly vulnerable Democrats it is oh, so much more “toxic” (a new favorite word) than when the Democratic Leadership Committee publishes a map with little bull’s eyes targeting possibly vulnerable Republicans.
But Bob is trying to seize another opportunity, too. He is trying to exploit the tragedy of the shootings in Arizona to curtail free speech, to arrogate to an unaccountable federal bureaucracy the determination of what “could be perceived as” threatening or inciting violence. “The rhetoric is just ramped up so negatively, so high,” Bob told CNN, “that we have got to shut this down.”
“Shut this down,” note that. One way to “shut it down” would be to make it a federal crime to engage an any speech or activity that could be perceived as (by whom?) threatening.
I’d say this was simply pathetic and that someone should send this bozo a copy of the First Amendment. But I suspect he knows exactly what he is doing. He is trying to “shut down” your right to engage in vigorous political debate, which also means vigorous political criticism. That’s why he should be targeted by Pennsylvanians in 2012: they should get him in their crosshairs and the voters should turn out en masse and score a bull’s eye by unseating this embarrassing enemy of free speech.
It's pretty clear Brady is not familiar with the First Amendment.
Hate speech laws are coming to the USA. Just watch.
I saw that idiot on FOX earlier. He really didn’t have any answers other than he didn’t want to debate the issue.
He knows he’s overreaching but just can’t help himself.
They don’t care about the “first amendment.” They know that this law, if passed, would only be applied to speech by normal people, not speech by nutjob leftists.
Just like “hate crime” laws are applied only to normal people, not to privileged victim groups.
Our flag used in a political ad could be construed to be hateful to, say, illegal immigrants?
Some of us here at work have been joking quietly about the metaphorical language we use here.
We’re trying to come up with politically correct ways to say things like, “deadline”, “under the gun”, “drop dead date”, “cold blue steel”, “dead”, “killer”, “heart-stopper”, “war zone”, and a few others.
He’s definitely and idiot. I’d bet he’s doing it for the attention from fellow leftists, most of whom enjoy taking more freedoms from us.
He is a congressman from Philadelphia County. Enough said.
Some animals are more equal than others.
The left is reactionary they have nothing that even comes close to logic.
These leftist turds are going to be so down next week when hundreds of homicidal right wing maniacs do not bother shooting at them with real bullets.
The powder will remain dry.
Overreaching seems to my observation to be a typical ploy, or tactic of the Leftist Socialist Democrats in general. Their tactic seems to be to throw as much stuff in our general direction as possible to make it appear we are them, thus divert the attention from themselves.
For many years everything repugnant, disgusting, crooked, rotten, etc. we are accused of by the Leftist Socialist Democrats has been a reflection of themselves, and they loudly, boisterously point all the blame for everything that they do to our direction. For many a year they succeeded with the tactic, but today with 50% internet online use vs 50% television viewing by the American public there seems to be less and less chance they will get away with it much longer.
I think our job is to email as much of the truth as we absorb here at FR to as many on our email lists as we possibly can to counter the tactics of the Leftist Socialist Democrats. Lately I’m receiving more, and more responses from my friends, and family stating they are aware as they too have been online reading, and NOT just taking what is coming from the tv, or the newspaper as gospel anymore.
I think it would be more poignant to send him a copy of the CSPAN video of Gabby Giffords reading it on the floor of the House of Representatives?
They well know where the fires and riots will start, and they likewise know where they will stop. Been there, done that. Their only hope is a miseducated youth that has not a clue about the past/present realities of human nature to touch things off. No one in most of these districts will act out in the snow, burning mailboxes and blocking off neighborhoods before the checks arrive is counter intuitive, even for a nitwit.
Diminution of political power is a bitch, especially after ones district has flamed itself into an ash heap and requires external intervention.
An absolutely terrific idea. Better yet maybe have John Boehner present him a copy on the floor of the House when they reconvene for the whole country to witness.
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