At a press conference this morning, Mitt Romney did not back down when asked whether he spoke too soon in criticizing the Obama administration’s initial response to the attack on the U.S. embassy in Egypt.
Earlier today, Romney slammed the administration’s response as “disgraceful,” saying that it appeared to “sympathize” with those who waged the attacks. As Jonathan wrote earlier, the initial statement from the Obama administration — which was released before the embassy attack — seemed to apologize for an anti-Islam movie that Egyptian extremists used as a pretext for the violence. The White House has since distanced itself from the statement, saying it didn’t sign off on it.
According to Romney, the Obama administration statement and subsequent walk-back “reflects the mixed signals they’re sending to the world.”
“The world remains a dangerous place,” said Romney. “America cannot shrink from the responsibility to lead.”
When asked whether he regretted speaking out so soon, Romney said he did not. “That [response from the administration] was a mistake, and I believe when a mistake is made of that significance, you speak out.”
This was Romney seeking to contrast his leadership style with Obama’s. Conflicting responses and apologies for free expression can be taken as signs of weakness by America’s enemies, and Romney’s message was that he will stand firm in the face of attacks on America and never apologize for the devotion to, or defense of, free speech.
Sam Bacile should be arrested,and tried for the crime of intentionally*(and for the political agenda of a FOREIGN POWER) inciting violence resulting in murder/Life imprisonment if convicted. _Failing that,we have Drones for the enemies of America.
You should be arrested for attempted treason against the Constitution and American values.
Sam Bacile has the death of our Ambassador to Lbya on his hands, not Obama.
No, the mob who killed the ambassador does. You live in a very morally warped universe.
Yelling "Fire"in the theatre ain't free speech.
It is if there really is a fire. And even if there is not, it is only a crime if done with intent to provoke panic. And yelling "Honky" at a KKK meeting or N*ger at a Nation of Islam rally is, even if intended to provoke outrage. It may not be smart or polite, but it's free speech. If you went to law school, or took a college course in the US Constitution, get your money back.
So hate speech is now protected under the Constitution,thank you Terry Jones for helping point this out.
It always has been. Get your money back from any place that claimed they were teaching you American Constitutional law. You obviously learned nothing.
Why is it not free speech? SCOTUS is clear – "time, place and manner." n nShouting "fire" in a crowded theater — prior to PA systems and loud fire alarms which would be recognized as authoritative warnings of the emergency — you were spreading panic about a life-threatening situation. Time, place & manner. n nNow if you believe that the theater was a firetrap — and many were because before the invention of polyester and related development of "safety film" in the 1950s, photographic/movie film was made out of cellulose nitrate which is highly flammable, gives off very deadly smoke, burns without oxygen and in large quantities is explosive — if you believed this, you could shout "fire" to your heart's content in a hearing before the Fire Commission or at Town Meeting or whatnot. Time, place & manner…. n nAs to FIRE — the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education — they are currently in the very difficult situation of defending antisemitism — not because they particularly like it but because a public university has no right to prohibit the expression of it. Former UM President Jack Wilson summed it up best when an obnoxious UM student wrote a newspaper column celebrating the death of Pat Tillman — essentially he defended the right of Rene to write what he did and then exercised his right of free speech to call him a schmck for writing it. n n"Time, place & manner." — I have no doubt that the prudent theater owner, in the course of employee training, had all of his young ushers shout "fire" in an *empty* theater as part of his training as to how they would evacuate the place if the projector did catch fire (as often happened). (And also to impress upon the young boys just how loud they would need to shout in order to be heard.) n nAs a dormitory supervisor, I had each of my RAs (undergrad employees) pull the building fire alarm. It was loud and disorienting and they had to know how to read the panel indicating where the alarm was and to make the phone call to the fire department — this prior to 911. The building was empty, this was training and the fire department knew about it — otherwise it would have been criminal. Time, place & manner. n nThere is no way – absolutely no way – that people halfway around the world are placed in mortal peril by any movie of any type. People could die in the panic you create by shouting "fire" in a crowded theater — die because they are fleeing for their lives and perceive themselves to be in mortal peril. No matter how offensive something may be, it does not constitute mortal peril.
Or perhaps cited for operating a mouth without cognition.
So the guy who made this movie says, he knew it would incite this type of violence.
Abraham Lincoln to Harriet Beecher Snow (author of _Uncle Tom's Cabin_) — mid Civil War: n"So you are the little lady who started this big mess." n nShe had absolutely every right to write the book — knowing it would provoke violence. n nRead the SCOTUS _Chaplinski_ decision — and I argue that it has largely been reversed since then. Look into what "fighting words" are — and then look at the case of _Cohen v. California_ where young Mr. Cohen, who opposed the draft and likely the Vietnam war as well, wrote "F*ck the Draft" (with the vowel not an asterisk) on his jacket and wore it into the courthouse where "women and children were present." Court ruled that free speech. n n_Tinker v. Des Moines_ (black armbands) — that was an Air Force community at the time — a lot of those children had parents over in Vietnam, some might have lost their fathers over there as planes were being shot down. The school district argued that the black armbands would incite violence — court said no, you have the obligation to prevent the violence. n nGoogle the concept of the "heckler's veto" — for that matter, google "John Bapst" and "Ellsworth" — Bapst was a Catholic Priest who wanted to establish a Catholic church in what was then entirely-Protestant Ellsworth, Maine. Yes, he incited violence doing this, the church was burnt and he nearly murdered — yet the (then) very Protestant Bangor Daily News wrote an editorial as to how reprehensible this all was and that he was welcome in Bangor. n nI am sure that the people — at least the adults – involved in school desegregation knew that it would incite violence — and people died. So the racist thugs should have been able to veto the US Constitution? n nWhat was our national response to the Klu Klux Klan — to live in fear of it and to not offend it, or to FIGHT it and to DESTROY it? As you may or may not know, 42 USC 1983 started with what is now known as the "Civil Rights Act of 1871" but at the time was known as the "Anti Klu Klux Klan Act."
(referring to rexford)
YOU SHOULD BE ARRESTED,JUST FOR BEING STUPID…..
We need to crush all speech if it offends Islam. No question. Kill all infidels in the name of tolerance.
Two word reply,Truds Terry Jones
Two word reply, rex – get bent.
Progressives in America believe Terry Jones is guilty of a crime against humanity while blithely giving a pass to these fellows who murdered diplomats.
Jones is guilty of incitement to riot and murder,the Lybians are guilty of Murder.
Do you have any legal authority for that statement? The Collected Sayings of Code Pink do not count. A SCOTUS opinion does.
_Cohen v. California_ comes to mind — I think Cohen could have reasonably known that he was potentially provoking violence (and possibly wanted it) — and back then, what he wrote on his jacket would have been far more offensive than any movie today. n nAnd he had the right to do it….
The bodies are still warm and Mitt reanimates them to vote! Slimy Mitt.
They wouldn't be dead if Mitt was POTUS.
The obama administration most defintely needs to be called out on its record of terrible and incompetent ME policies and amateurish statrments , that are indeed disgraceful.
Well, at least you're starting to get your ducks in row — sort of. n n"As Jonathan wrote earlier, the initial statement from the Obama administration — which was released BEFORE the embassy attack " n nThe initial statement ? The initial statement in response to what? The embassy attack? It can't be the initial statement to the embassy attack if it was made BEFORE the embassy attack. n nIn addition, there isn't anything about the statement that is an apology.
No, it's preemptive surrender. The protesters planned ahead of time and Obama did not.