PAprogressive got me thinking with
this comment in Soj's great
diary today.
I'll make the case to arrest Robertson after the leap of faith.
"Mr. Robertson's call for the government of the United States to secretly assassinate President Hugo Chavez is a clear incitement to terrorism. The request that he made to President Bush to violently enforce the antiquated Monroe Doctrine in Venezuela is a clear request for the American government to intervene in the sovreign matters of our democratic nation."
This is a quote from the Venezualian Ambassador that can be found in Soj's diary. If we accept the premise that Robertson was inciting terrorism, then he could be in a lot of hot water.
In the PATRIOT Act, Section 802 describes domestic terrorism as something that involves "acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States," if the intent is to "influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion." The creation of a new category of domestic terrorism has raised fears of unwarranted crackdowns on street demonstrations and heightened concerns that people who simply associate with certain groups in their private lives could, by virtue of their affiliations, be charged under this law.
"What if a window is broken or a police officer is injured by a flying projectile in the course of a street demonstration? If laws are broken in the course of protest, it is possible that the crime could be classified as domestic terrorism."
Robertson used intimidation and coercion by trying to use his influence (2 million crazed Christian Coalition members) on our Government to commit terrorism. His ultimate goal being to change the policy (and President) of another Government. He also might have incited one of his minions to take matters into his own hands.
Another section of the act relating to terrorism, Section 303, has drawn criticism and a successful lawsuit from the Center for Constitutional Rights. That section, explains Kadidal, "was designed to give prosecutors the discretion to charge defendants with crimes just based on their association with groups. It's classic guilt-by-association, of the sort that was used to persecute Communist Party members," he adds.
While we're at it, might as well round up the rest of the coalition. And can we throw in Jerry Falwell for good measure?
Last week a federal judge sentenced a Muslim scholar, Ali Al Timimi, to life in prison, not for anything he did, but for what he said in the days following the 2001 attacks -- inciting a few like-minded fanatics in Northern Virginia to fight against the American military in Afghanistan, and describing the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 as one of many "good omens" that "Western supremacy" is ending. As distasteful and idiotic as Al Timimi's words are, they're no less distasteful or idiotic than those of Jerry Falwell blaming the attacks of 2001 on "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians . . . all of them who have tried to secularize America," and all of whom, Falwell said -- and Pat Robertson concurred -- "make God mad."
hink