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kchemers · #6 12-16-2002, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tkamiya
Absolutely nothing has happened to the freedom of speech. It's his guranteed right to speak his mind and he did. That does not mean others has to like what he had to say.

This time, majority seem to disagree with him. Because he is/was a representative of us, the citizens, and his view no longer reflects that of the majority, he is being asked to (by many) leave his office.

If he was an ordinary citizen, like you and I, people will dis-like us for having unpopular view. He is a politician and we are in democratic country where they are supposed to be our representatives carrying our values and acting on our behalf. Obviously, he didn't reflect majority views in his statement. Mistake or otherwise, he should have been alot more careful.

Because there is a freedom of speech, he is not procecuted for what he said. Police or the goverment is not arresting him. He is not in jail. He did nothing illegal. This is in contrast to some contries such as old Russia, current China, and many current middle eastern countries. In these countries, where freedom of speech does not exist, if you mis-speak, you could be arrested, jailed or even killed.

Freedom of speech says this in the first amendment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

As you can see here, it only gurantees that there will be no laws that will prohibit the freedom of speech. It does not say one can say anything he/she wants and there will be no consequences.

Freedom of speech is a precious and noble idea. Let's treat it that way....

By the way, Snibble, what you said is your view, and you certainly have the right to think that way. If the Lott's action is within the acceptable range for you, then he could be your representative.

He does not reflect my view, so I support his resignation. What I just said is my view guranteed by the first amendment, too.

(Let's keep this thread Civil, folks.... We had too many threads that went wild recently. We need not another one!!)

ditto

-Volkl42