Accused Arizona shooter Jared Loughner is clearly deranged. But Jewish attack groups and liberal Democrats are demanding laws that limit the "incivility" of the political right—which they claim motivated his violence.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), third-ranking Democrat in Congress, wants legislation enforcing balanced media coverage: reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. This will require conservative media to simultaneously present the liberal point of view. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is looking at legislative "ways to better police language on the airwaves."
Most threateningly, Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA) is crafting a bill which will give members of Congress special protection from criticism. Then it will be not just homosexuals and racial minorities with special rights and privileges, but also beleaguered Democrats.
Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pennsylvania, said he will introduce legislation making it a federal crime for a person to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a member of Congress or federal official... Brady is particularly incensed over a web posting by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin during the 2010 election in which she targeted 20 House Democrats, including Giffords, for political defeat. The posting showed a map of the United States in the 20 Democratic districts identified by cross-hairs... 'You can't put bulls-eyes or cross-hairs on a congressman or federal official...' Brady said... it is now time to put an end to the hyper-charged language. 'The rhetoric is just ramped up so negatively, so high, that we have got to shut this down,'... Brady noted that he wanted to have it ready as soon as possible. (CNN)
Whose perceptions will determine if a word or image might incite others to violence? Will it be ADL or its lackeys, such as US Attorney General Eric Holder? Or perhaps the FBI, working in close communication with such "thought police?"
Brady's legislation leads us into the mists of "thought crime" subjectivity. Such a national law would no longer uphold our First Amendment free speech rights but dedicate itself to avoidance of agitating the insane. Communicative tools of language and imagery with no serious suggestion of violence (such as Palin’s crosshairs) will become criminal. Use of an ever-longer list of forbidden words and images will become an offense against the state.
Scripture condemns those like Rep. Brady who “make a man an offender for a word.” (Isaiah 29:21) Christian civilized ethics judge us in general by the definable actions, legal or illegal, which accompany our words. Outlawing a list of politically incorrect words is medieval.
Under Brady’s bill, much of our free speech would be taken in order to keep the crazies calm. There are better, more proven ways society has found to deal with the insane. They include psychiatric drugs and mental hospitals, not federal speech crime laws that strip the majority of freedom.
Rev. Ted Pike
Rev. Ted Pike is director of the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative watchdog organization.
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