we need to remember that the 1st amendment
(supposedly) restricts the government, and does
nothing else to guarantee freedom of expression.

I wish that it did! -- j

"The problem with politicians is calling it hate speech."
I agree. I'm just pointing out that some US politicians do "have the balls to sand up to hateful vitriol." I want politicians to stay out of it.

Totally agree with you. Except...the USA is also being swallowed culturally by immigrants.

Great article! I cannot agree more with Lucky's statements. I lived in Italy for more than 30 years and at one time any tourist or possible immigrant stood out like a sore thumb. Italy was Italian and everyone else was a visitor. Now, since the instigation of the European Union, Italy had to start taking in large groups of immigrants seeking asylum in Europe. The surrounding wars have not helped. Italy's crime rate has shot through the ceiling with foreign perpetrators.
I have seen so many changes to a country that at one time had a problem of its own people emigrating to other countries. They do not have a social structure in place to absorb these extremes. The U.S. Is much better prepared to absorb other nationalities into its culture since it was born on this ideal.
I cannot accept that a Catholic Church cannot be built and operated in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, etc., but the Arabs demand to have a church in your country and every country allows this! I say if we cannot do the same, if we are not given the same courtesy then you have no right to do so in our country. I do not understand this premise of unbalanced diplomacy.

oops hes --> he

It seems to me that we need to be very careful here. Even though I find this imam to be a despicable being, isn't it better to let him state his beliefs in the open rather than drive it underground? This way we know who hes is, keep an eye on him, and when he takes action w.r.t his horrific views, we do away with him.

Agreed; "hate speech" is just another package deal designed to destroy freedom of speech.

It's the same reason why their version of "diplomacy" always ends up in disaster - whether its with China, Russia, Syria, Libya, Palestine, or anyone else. When you attempt to negotiate without standards, without a firm understanding of the others' goal, and without the will to say no, you end up with bad policy.

Oh, that's right! Silly us. Snort.
That kind of tolerance will get people killed. Period. We have a seriously stupid president. He thinks he can appease monsters.

Why ever would they do THAT???
They're such godly people... GAG!
If it was me, I would tell them both to take a hike. And don't come back with your racist divisive hate fomenting rantings. They are just as evil as that imam in my estimation.

It certainly is. If there are people here who our spies, (insert NSA), know to be threats, they need to be removed from this country immediately. It is not a hard decision to come to. Logical.

the French the british the Nordic countries and yes the good old usa should follow suit IMMEDIATELY.

the Italian mafia and the Jewish mafia collaborated.

It's just there are pet groups who seem to have favored status in this regime, er, legislation. No scrutiny allowed, and others, let us say people who ascribe to personal liberty and limited government, who have the magnifying lens on a suny day trained on them.

Isn't it embarrassing, not to say shameful,
that America lacks the spine that Italy has??

Love it. It just shows that our Big Government is on an Islamist bent and will never do anything to upset anybody. I mean even FDR imprisoned Japanese people when Pearl Harbor was attacked. I am not saying it was the right thing to do, I believe it was wrong. The main object is he did what was unpopular but what he felt he had to do at the time. I am sure at that time (it was before I was born) the national sentiment was behind the move. However when someone incites violence against an individual or group of people, then he or she is a danger to society. Sounds like some people who are currently in the news though but our elites will never put Jesse or Al in jail.

Hmmm. And I thought that Islam was "the religion of peace" and tolerance... [/sarcasm]

There is a difference between saying "I hate all x. " and urging groups of people " Kill all x. "
The problem with politicians is calling it hate speech. There are already laws on the books to take care of the second example. The first example should protected under 1st amendment

To me this shows the importance of the nation state and borders.
A nation can have free speech for its citizens but those who come in as visitors, migrants or for short term work may be subject to restrictions, with contravention leading to deportation. Such restrictions must be the concern of that nation alone. For example, to remain, a visitor may be required to show good behavior, the ability to fit in and pay their way. We have people here who do not speak our language but say the same things. Much of Europe likewise.
So, very good to see Italy showing some sense - enlightened self interest.

"This is how to show that it is unacceptable and that they are unafraid to stand up against this hateful nonsense. Our not so dear leader could learn a few things from this."
I thought he once said he was in favor of criminalizing hate speech and making crimes more severe (hate crimes) if they're motivated by hateful nonsense. I may be completely wrong on that though.

Politicians give lip-service to wanting to stop hate speech, but my understanding is the Supreme Court ruled in the past that hate speech is protected as long as it's not inciting a riot.