Saleh, Politics, &c.

Remember Amrullah Saleh? I wrote about him here. He was the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency until June, when he was forced to resign. In the post I linked above, I wondered what he would do now that he is not officially part of the Afghan government. Today I finally was able to get in touch with someone who could give an update. Here it is:

Amrullah Saleh is in Kabul and he’s has started a grass-roots political movement. He frequently meets young Afghan professionals in Kabul and in northern provinces and speaks to students in Kabul university to raise political awareness amongst the youth. It was recently rumored in Kabul that he’s joined certain opposition leaders such as Abdullah Abdullah, Mohammad Mohaqeq and Gen. Dostum to form an opposition alliance. But he’s not confirmed that.

If you were wondering...


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Here is my attempt at 'pandering to the base' :

Obama Failed Leadership - Foreign Policy from RightChange on Vimeo.

If you re-read the post I linked above, you'll recognize that I share the sentiments expressed in this video.

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How about some Supreme Court? Excerpt from this article:

During an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America this morning, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer addressed the recent controversy over a Florida Pastor's plan to hold a Quran-burning rally on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, saying he wasn't convinced the First Amendment would protect such an action if the case were brought to the court in the future.

"Holmes said it doesn't mean you can shout 'fire' in a crowded theater," Breyer told George Stephanopoulos during the GMA interview, referring to Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who wrote the opinion in a 1919 Supreme Court decision that addressed Freedom of Speech. "Well, what is it? Why? Because people will be trampled to death. And what is the crowded theater today? What is the being trampled to death?"

For clarity, Justice Holmes said that Freedom of Speech does not give someone the right to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater (unless it's actually on fire), because people could be injured or worse. Sounds like common sense right?

Now Justice Breyer (appointed by Clinton in 1994) is using this same logic with regards to Quran (Koran?) burning. Burning a Quran in the US could lead to riots and death in the Middle East, so might not be protected by Freedom of Speech.

Nonsense!

Notice he gets the basic point completely wrong. The reason you can’t shout “fire” in a crowded theater is not because people will be trampled, it is because, in this example, it is assumed your INTENT is to cause a panic.

If you shout “fire” and there’s no fire, it’s perfectly OK as long as you believed there was a fire, that your intent was to save lives.

Is there a more basic legal concept than this?

As I said last week, I'm not a fan of burning Qurans (primarily because they don't burn very well) but am willing to accept it as long as said burning isn't staged on a sacred day. Accept it, because we're in the US.

And anyone who thinks the burners' intent is too start riots in the Middle East, ain't paying attention...

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Had a couple more items but some of my Dale County Slicers requested more brevity in my Razor posts.

E libris, ignis