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February 16, 2006

Irony

Posted by Eric at 1:57 pm. Filed under: Humor

It doesn’t get more ironic than this.

An arson trial was interrupted when sparks from an electrical fire showered the judge and his clerk while a fire chief was testifying.

UPDATE: This seems to fit the ironic theme too.


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Ben Shapiro: Prosecute Al Gore for Sedition

Posted by Eric at 7:22 am. Filed under: War / Terrorism

Ben Shapiro as on the money.

At some point, opposition must be considered disloyal. At some point, the American people must say “enough.” At some point, Republicans in Congress must stop delicately tiptoeing with regard to sedition and must pass legislation to prosecute such sedition.

“Freedom of speech!” the American Civil Liberties Union will protest. Before we buy into the slogan, we must remember our history. President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus and allowed governmental officials to arrest Rep. Clement Vallandigham after Vallandigham called the Civil War “cruel” and “wicked,” shut down hundreds of opposition newspapers, and had members of the Maryland legislature placed in prison to prevent Maryland’s secession. The Union won the Civil War.

Under the Espionage Act of 1917, opponents of World War I were routinely prosecuted, and the Supreme Court routinely upheld their convictions. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes rightly wrote, “When a nation is at war, many things that might be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its effort that their utterance will not be endured so long as men fight and that no Court could regard them as protected by any constitutional right.” The Allies won World War I.

During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the internment of hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans, as well as allowing the prosecution and/or deportation of those who opposed the war. The Allies won World War II.

During the Vietnam War, the Supreme Court repeatedly upheld the free speech rights of war opponents, whether those opponents distributed leaflets depicting the rape of the Statue of Liberty or wore jackets emblazoned with the slogan “F— the Draft.” America lost the Vietnam War.

This is not to argue that every measure taken by the government to prosecute opponents of American wars is just or right or Constitutional. Some restrictions, however, are just and right and Constitutional — and necessary. No war can be won when members of a disloyal opposition are given free reign to undermine it.

He sums it up this way:

Essentially, I contend that Congress ought to revivify sedition prosecutions. U.S. Code 18 Sec. 2388 currently governs sedition. It reads, in relevant part, “Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully makes or conveys false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies …. Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.” The only question for Al Gore is whether he has the requisite intent under this statute. It would be tough to argue that he does not, in current context. Justice Holmes’ statement in Schenck v. U.S. (249 U.S. 47, 1919) should govern here: “When a nation is at war many things that might be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its effort that their utterance will not be endured so long as men fight and that no Court could regard them as protected by any constitutional right.”


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