I just heard a news story that blew me away. An international student (I don't know the nationality) was studying in the library of a US college or university. He overheard a group of Saudi students frolicking in Arabic about bin Laden's successes on 9/11. The first student confronted them (in Arabic) and dressed them down for their attitude. Guess which side got censured by the university? You got it--- the lone defender of the dead US citizens. Can anyone find a link to this story? rockHEAD?
That's a tough situation. The university goes after the student they get criticized for punishing the person defending the victims. But if they had went after the students bragging about Osama bin Laden they would have been looked at as another group of people coming after students of Arab descent. Not only that, the university would get killed by people saying they violated that person's freedom of speech. I want to hear all of thise story though before I pass judgement.
My take on this is all foreign nationals who live work or study in the United States that has any sympathy with Osama Ben laden or celebrates the September 11 massacre of 5000 innocent people should be immediately deported in my mind they are a threat to the people of the United States
It may be old news, but even so does anyone think of it as being unlikely or impossible? Not me-- sorry to say.
No comments till a link is seen. I'm not saying it didn't happen; just that I don't feel like playing in "Fantasy Terrorist Conspiracy Leagues".
First of all, I'm guessing there was a little more to it than the obvious slant that our good 'ol conservative friend RichRocket put on it. I'm guessing it was more than a dress down. If a university took the means to censure someone, especially in a case like this, there has to be more than what you're telling us. Also, if you can't stand that someone as a different opinion, then I'm guessing it's you (not you RichRocket, everyone in general) that needs to get out. This country has a right to free speech whether we like it or not. It's easy to enforce and support when it's trivial stuff like whether or not we think Clinton is a sh!thead, but we see the true colors of Americans when stuff like this happens. If this story is true (which I doubt, and if it is, there's a lot more to it than this), I support the Saudis to say what they want, just as I'd support the other one to say what he wants...I just doubt it was a simple "dressing down".
The "right" of free speech has been trivialized ad nauseum when it comes down to protecting the rights of sympathizers to celebrate the murder of some 3-5000 innocent American men, women and children under the freedoms of the US of A. Had this event been reversed and occurred in Afghanistan, those who found hilarity in the tragedy would already be dead. Surely we can find someplace between just taking it willingly and murdering the gigglers. Maybe deportation isn't such a bad idea? Could such insensitivity be construed as a hate crime? I'm supportive of free speech but allowing them to rub it in our faces right under our noses is asking a bit much. I still can't find a link; the tale was related on a nationally syndicated radio talk show so I'm inclined to think it is a real event. Personally, I hope the guy cracked them over the head with one of those heavy library chairs!! <b>RM95</b>: This is a bit more serious than disagreeing with someone who has a different opinion. These jackals spit in our faces in this incident. They dishonored our dead. They mock our freedoms by defiling us openly-- even in our "hallowed" halls of learning. That doesn't bother you?
They did all the above in an incident nobody seems to have heard about. How about some proof it happened? Again, it very well could've happened, but you're not going to get much support when you can't provide facts. I can sit here relaying story after story then getting vitriolic and enraged over the stories, but that proves nothing.
Hey! I've got my own story. A guy I work with is from Tunisia. The other day when he was leaving, I told him to "take care and have a good weekend." This guy's a very casual acquaintance, and I barely know him. He stopped... shook my hand.... clasped it with his other hand, and thanked me. I looked at him in surprise, and he said: "Those are about the first kind words I've heard from a stranger since September 11th." I'm more embarrassed about that than some isolated incident, since it reflects poorly on more people.
<B>Had this event been reversed and occurred in Afghanistan, those who found hilarity in the tragedy would already be dead. Surely we can find someplace between just taking it willingly and murdering the gigglers. Maybe deportation isn't such a bad idea? </B> RichRocket, you can't deport them just for the hell of it -- they have to do something illegal. The only thing I can think of as a legitimate reason in this case to deport would be "treason". I don't think celebrating the WTC mess is treasonous. Disgusting, sad, despicable, sure. Treasonous, though? I think there has to be some intent to do something bad rather than just being happy with what happened. We can't only accept free speech when we agree with it or have no problem with it. Just my opinion.
<b>DoD</b>: Let's pretend it never happened. Let's make it a hypothetical. Would you find their behavior objectionable? In my first post, I asked for someone (rH) specifically to see if they could find the news link because I couldn't. Let's call this contingency planning! <b>haven</b>: I'm not embarassed about what "allegedly" happened in this library. I'm outraged by it. We cannot invite our enemies to live among us, destroy us, and enjoy the doing of it. I don't see "my" event as isolated. It is a nationwide condition that leaves us vulnerable.
Maybe you can be punished for things you say/write What if we make this a little more extreme? What would happen if there was a parade celebrating Osama bin Laden and the 9-11 attacks?
There would be rioting of L.A. proportions. Sad to say that I might be part of it and even carted off to jail, because my own ignorance would not allow me to watch Osama sympathizers parading around where I live.
The government can deport someone for many reasons, even if they are going against our Constitution. They may do so with people who are not citizens of our country and therefore not covered by our Constitution. If the story is true, and if those students were not citizens, then yeah, I think it would be okay to send them back to their country of origin. I also think it would be okay not to send them back, but to force them to go to some stupid touchy-feely cultural meeting. There's a difference between speaking out against our government and speaking out against our country. I speak out against our government all the time. I do not speak out against our country. A citizen and a non-citizen should be able to disagree with our government. A citizen has protection under our Constitution if they speak out against our country, but a non-citizen does not. It is the Constitution of the United States, not the Constitution of all the people on the planet. If someone comes to the U.S. and uses our resources (education, etc), then goes back to their country with these resources, that is a fact of life of living in an open society. I'm not particularly fond of this idea, but I don't begrudge those individuals who do this. On the other hand, if someone wants to come to our country and use/take our resources, but at the same time vilify the very society they are using for their own betterment, then that's when I have a real problem. I cringe when I hear someone say "Love it or leave it", but truthfully, if you're going to hate everything about the U.S., why do you need to be here? If it's just to use us, then no thanks.
Of course I'd find it objectionable. But guess what? I find setting a person on fire and throwing him out of a plane pretty objectionable, too. I can't prove it's happened, but damn, if it ever did, I sure as hell would object! If you find the story, I'll back you if the story is as you stated. If you can't find it, there's nothing to object against as nothing has happened.
