The Sedition Act of 2009?
Thursday December 7, 2006
Category: Free Speech | War on Terror
On October 27th, Newt Gingrich delivered a speech in which he suggested that our current understanding of free speech might need to be revised in the post-9/11 world. After his remarks generated the expected firestorm of controversy, he published a followup op-ed on December 4th explaining his position in greater detail.
What Gingrich is proposing is very much a third Sedition Act, though milder, from early indications, than its two predecessors. Of course, it wouldn't pass muster now--but Gingrich suggests that it probably would if we were subjected to another major terrorist attack.
These remarks should be understood within the context of Gingrich's likely 2008 presidential run. Certain elements of the Republican base will probably be delighted with the political incorrectness of it all, just as they were with Mitt Romney's bizarre suggestion that Muslim immigrants be surveilled and mosques wiretapped, but my suspicion is that this approach will ultimately backfire, even within his own party. Time will tell.
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What Gingrich is proposing is very much a third Sedition Act, though milder, from early indications, than its two predecessors. Of course, it wouldn't pass muster now--but Gingrich suggests that it probably would if we were subjected to another major terrorist attack.
These remarks should be understood within the context of Gingrich's likely 2008 presidential run. Certain elements of the Republican base will probably be delighted with the political incorrectness of it all, just as they were with Mitt Romney's bizarre suggestion that Muslim immigrants be surveilled and mosques wiretapped, but my suspicion is that this approach will ultimately backfire, even within his own party. Time will tell.
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my suspicion is that this approach will ultimately backfire
We can only hope that Newt is wrong. If we do have another 9/11, I can easily see it happening.
Too bad the far-Right doesn’t realize that what they pass into law can ultimately be used against them when the political winds shift, as they always do.
I can’t wait for the day that some Democratic administration uses the USAPATRIOT Act (or some of the other b.s the far-Right has rammed through), against the Republicans. I can just hear the howls of “Unconstitutional” from O’Reilly and Limbaugh now.