US embassies in the nation of Islam are burning.
In the United States, right and left are disavowing the film that has set that mad dragon rampaging. Yet, the dragon swoops and roars and burns.
In the Unites States, there is outcry against the utterly inane, self-serving fools who poked the dragon with a sharp stick, and pissed it off. How could anyone be so stupid, so delusionally self-righteous, so blind to the risk to others?
We get this same outcry against Nazi and KKK parades and rallies, and any kind of demonstration of things that generally have long ago been marked "Evil" and for which we as a maturing and responsible society have abandoned any consideration of legitimacy or tolerance.
And yet... perhaps the greatest strength of this nation, the United States of America, is that one essential of liberty: freedom of speech.
That Constitutional freedom guarantees the right to say any damn thing, to make any declaration, publish any manifesto no matter how mad, no matter how unpopular, to anyone in this country, and even outside it, the policy of tolerance of outrageous ideas and ideals often seems to be official policy.
Nations in which freedom of expression does not exist, don't understand it. They just don't comprehend that any American's opinion that gets blurted out, that America tolerates it, without necessarily agreeing with it. If one fool American throws out into the world something vile and absurd and provocative, of course people of reasoning wit in any culture can see it for what it is. But those who are looking for an excuse, or simply don't get it, will hold all of the United States responsible and accountable for that one bit of malicious, personal stupidity.
Personally, I think it is mostly excuse. The leaders of the mob know better: They count on the ignorance and emotional volatility of the mob to do the work they want done, knowing full well what the truth is, but finding it more useful to bellow out the lie. They will not be appeased, no matter what the American government does about this particular provocateur, because they want the excuse more than they care about the truth.
The truth is, even in America, even with this huge blanket of protection over the right of free expression, there are limits: No one has the right to cry, "Fire!" in a crowded theater. No one has the right to use their freedom of speech to incite physical threat or harm to anyone else.
What happened in this latest incident not only caused deaths, it was predictable that it could. It was done to provoke that dragon, to yank its beard and blow it a raspberry.
On that basis, in my opinion, the author of this latest outrage should be prosecuted to the very fullest extent of American justice, regardless of whether other nations respect it or not.
In the United States, right and left are disavowing the film that has set that mad dragon rampaging. Yet, the dragon swoops and roars and burns.
In the Unites States, there is outcry against the utterly inane, self-serving fools who poked the dragon with a sharp stick, and pissed it off. How could anyone be so stupid, so delusionally self-righteous, so blind to the risk to others?
We get this same outcry against Nazi and KKK parades and rallies, and any kind of demonstration of things that generally have long ago been marked "Evil" and for which we as a maturing and responsible society have abandoned any consideration of legitimacy or tolerance.
And yet... perhaps the greatest strength of this nation, the United States of America, is that one essential of liberty: freedom of speech.
That Constitutional freedom guarantees the right to say any damn thing, to make any declaration, publish any manifesto no matter how mad, no matter how unpopular, to anyone in this country, and even outside it, the policy of tolerance of outrageous ideas and ideals often seems to be official policy.
Nations in which freedom of expression does not exist, don't understand it. They just don't comprehend that any American's opinion that gets blurted out, that America tolerates it, without necessarily agreeing with it. If one fool American throws out into the world something vile and absurd and provocative, of course people of reasoning wit in any culture can see it for what it is. But those who are looking for an excuse, or simply don't get it, will hold all of the United States responsible and accountable for that one bit of malicious, personal stupidity.
Personally, I think it is mostly excuse. The leaders of the mob know better: They count on the ignorance and emotional volatility of the mob to do the work they want done, knowing full well what the truth is, but finding it more useful to bellow out the lie. They will not be appeased, no matter what the American government does about this particular provocateur, because they want the excuse more than they care about the truth.
The truth is, even in America, even with this huge blanket of protection over the right of free expression, there are limits: No one has the right to cry, "Fire!" in a crowded theater. No one has the right to use their freedom of speech to incite physical threat or harm to anyone else.
What happened in this latest incident not only caused deaths, it was predictable that it could. It was done to provoke that dragon, to yank its beard and blow it a raspberry.
On that basis, in my opinion, the author of this latest outrage should be prosecuted to the very fullest extent of American justice, regardless of whether other nations respect it or not.
I agree with your first analysis - any excuse for violence will be construed by that crowd. I don't agree with your last one - my opinion is that free speech is either free speech...or it isn't. The US government is attempting to appease the blooming idiots (my term!) and is risking its consitution by doing so. Well written! Adnohr.
ReplyDeleteStill, Adnohr, there is the question of yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Where the exercise of free speech predictably causes harm, the law has drawn a line. And, of course, 'freedom of speech' doesn't protect slander.
ReplyDeleteThe more I read of this guy who is behind the 'insults' to Islam and Mohammed, the more I think that he will fall under the protection of the Constitution, as far as his right to spout off. And considering the actual biographical material available on Mohammed himself, it can't exactly be called slander.
I wonder if he will be held to account, though, for wrongful deaths, or something of that sort.
Being criminally stupid?
No question, he lied to a lot of people and caught them up in his debacle.
Thanks for visiting and commenting, Adnohr!