With just two weeks left until the election, the Romney campaign is reacting aggressively to suggestions that Romney’s promise to prosecute Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for “incitement” for his anti-Israel comments fly in the face of America’s First Amendment tradition of freedom of speech.
“The First Amendment, like the US Constitution, protects US citizens and residents from overreaching by our government. It does not protect our foreign state adversaries,” the Romney campaign insisted.
Romney campaign officials insisted that not only could the International Criminal Court be brought into play to try Ahmadinejad for his speeches, but also insisted that US courts could also be “appropriate” venues for such a trial.
While the US government’s record of following the constitution’s First Amendment is far from spotless, attempting to arrest a foreign leader on charges of criminal speech would be unprecedented, to say the least, in American history. Experts also say that despite the campaign’s claims to the contrary, US courts was almost certainly treat Ahmadinejad’s comments as protected speech.
In my 70yrs l have never encountered such a jackass human being spout such excreta is this what american people want as a president "Pity"
Nothing poses any greater threat to Zionist plans for world domination than does free speech. No matter who they are, or where they come from, anyone who objects to free speech and free inquiry are tyrants and potential tyrants. Truth and facts stand on their own merits and need no laws or court dicisions to protect them.
Another reason why not to vote for Romney. He has absolutely no loyalty to our Constitution or to the spirit of free speech. European laws about speech are relics of their absolute monarchies of the past and to want to use such an antiquated system to bash someone who says things about another country indicates a meddlesome disposition which we can do without in our President. It's like rendition, where you cheerfully toss some suspect into another country's torture chambers to find out what you want to know. Imagine the sort of Supreme Court justices and attorneys general he will find acceptable. So it's a poor choice we have, but Romney is out to demonstrate he is the worse one.
Well, when a judge out of NY can condem Iran for 9/11 and demand that it pay out a few beellllion dollars to the victims, I don't see how this "policeman of the world" hybris is anything new. (See how that works. Did anyone condem the US for shooting down a civilian Iranian Airbus? NOPE!?)
It's going to be fun when The Prez suddenly has to decide whom of the politicos in the world he wants to have SEALSNAGGED and hauled into a US court because the talked foul. Or maybe only the ones dissing Israel will be targeted. Yeah, I don't see some dude calling for Sunpeople Overkill raising hackles in DC. Except Kony. What happened to him, anyway.
What Bravo Sierra! First amendment doesn't apply to anyone outside the US and doesn't matter one way or the other. People can say what they wish outside of the Amerikan Gulag.
Interestingly the ICJ and ICC are not recognised by the United States as having Jurisdiction on Americans, and the Israeli government has the same view.
Of course if Romney thinks such a precedent doesnt have similar consequences for American Presidents and their actions, I am all for it. As soon as the Precedent is made, We the world can look at Past US Presidents and American Politicians for their illegal acts, and then Prosecute them in the ICC and ICJ.
Just so that Romney gets such American Exceptionalism, what would happen if a Country like Russia was to write a law allowing the Russian President to have Spetnatz teams assasinate any person foreign or domestic who the President of Russia doesnt like! You know the same sort of law that US Presidents like George W and Obama claim to have had! What is to stop Iran from having such a law or in fact any country!