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No immigrants and no free speech make Homer something something…
Lately I’ve been saying to myself, “self, I really miss that Newt Gingrich feller - what happened to the jolly little fat man?” Well now I can answer myself, as it turns out he’s been exercising his freedom of irony. On Monday, the white-haired former Speaker of the House gave a speech where he explained that, in his estimation, we need to take a look at this whole freedom of speech thing in light of ongoing terrorist threats. Specifically, the Newt thinks we might need a “different set of rules” to fight the Terror, particularly to hamper the bad guys’ ability to use the internets and free speech to recruit and spread the word of terror. And it’s getting urgent, as we have to do this “before we actually lose a city.” As to why this constitutes an exercise of his freedom of irony? Because, wouldn’t you know it, he was giving this speech at a First Amendment award dinner celebrating folks who stand up for the freedom of speech!
Now, Newt might want to think twice about restricting freedom of speech, even putting aside the arguments about that pesky First Amendment. For example, without such freedoms, we might lose gems from some of his fellow politicos, such as Representative Tom Tancredo. This guy, in discussing his anti-immigration stance, used Miami as an example of immigration gone out of control. To him:
[Miami] has become a Third World country. You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace. You would never know you’re in the United States of America. You would certainly say you’re in a Third World country.
Classy.
