In America, we relish our freedoms. But it seems to me that over the last 50 years or so, we’re wanting freedoms to do things that would have been inconceivable to our Founding Fathers. In that time, here’s what we’ve gained in “freedoms”:

• The freedom to terminate an unwanted pregnancy
• The freedom to engage in homosexual sex
• The freedom to have pornagraphy flood our country
• Freedom from religion
• The freedom for an otherwise-qualified applicant to seek college admission at other than the school of his choice because what would have been that person’s spot was taken by a lesser-qualified minority
• Freedom to pay more in taxes to provide social services to the flood of illegal immigrants entering our country
• The recent freedom granted to be relieved of your property so that it can be given to another private party

This is only a partial listing, of course. And there have been some positive gains made, too. The thing is, in America, we have a mindset for freedom. We hate to see anything taken from us (are you listening, David Souter?).

Be that as it may, it might be time to take a hard look at liberties granted to certain groups.

As discussed in a previous post, former Prime Minister John Major in Great Britain has openly discussed the possibility of ridding his country of the pestilence of those who advocate violence against it.

Now Reuters reports on how the UK is implementing guidelines for barring or deporting individuals who inspire terrorism.

Two waves of bomb attacks in London which killed 52 commuters in the capital last month prompted a series of new anti-terrorism measures and British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the “rules of the game are changing.”

The list of activities deemed unacceptable, which covers non-UK citizens in Britain or abroad, includes expressing opinions which “foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence” or seeking to provoke others to commit terrorist acts.

The government said the guidelines, which take immediate effect, applied to views conveyed through written or published material, including websites, as well as public speaking.

As I predicted, it didn’t take long for the whiners to step up to the plate:

“The proposals do nothing but unleash further Islamophobia in British society,” said the Islamic Human Rights Commission, saying the plans represented a “criminalisation of thought.”

[Note to the Islamic Human Rights Commission: If carried to word and deed as has been done in Great Britain, some thoughts are criminal, you freaking idiots! - TD]

Further:

Civil rights groups oppose any move that would lead to suspects being sent to countries with a record of torture.

“We believe it’s better for terrorist suspects to be tried than shuffled around the world,” said James Welch of Liberty.

TD’s Translation from Liberal to Conservative: “Let’s give them a very public trial here to espouse their views and gain adherents to their twisted way of thinking instead of sending them to a country that would keep them quiet by throwing their sorry butts into the deepest dungeons they have.”

Always on the ball, La Shawn Barber points out that Australia is watching and will take action before something happens in their country. According to The Australian:

MOSQUES and Islamic schools will be targeted by intelligence agencies as the Federal Government tries to stamp out home-grown terrorism and extremists.

On top of trying to promote Australian values in Islamic schools, Prime Minister John Howard said the Government would monitor what was said in certain schools and mosques to ensure they did not foster terrorism.

Now here’s the important question: Is America smart enough to do the same? Don’t tell me that the problem doesn’t exist: KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles carries a story by Eric Leonard which states in part that:

California prisons have been trying to hire more Muslim chaplains to lead religious services behind bars, but little effort is made to screen them for possible extremist beliefs.

In fact, state qualifications for Muslim chaplains appear more lenient than those for other faiths.

Hand-in-hand with the KFI story is this one from the LA Times:

Counterterrorism officials investigating an alleged plot to attack National Guard recruitment centers, synagogues and other sites in Southern California said Tuesday they are investigating the possibility that the plot was hatched by Islamic extremists and gang members at a state prison in Folsom.

Details remained closely guarded, but law enforcement sources said they were actively investigating the breadth of possible connections between three men now in custody in Los Angeles and inmates at California State Prison, Sacramento, one of two prisons in Folsom, about 25 miles east of the capital.

They’re here today, right now, and they’re using the freedoms of our own country to attempt to bring us down. Furthermore, it appears that many, if not most of the members of these groups are homemade American citizens:

Officials involved in the investigation have three people in custody who are believed to be connected with the alleged plot — Levar Haney Washington, 25; Gregory Vernon Patterson, a 21-year-old former employee of a duty-free shop at Los Angeles International Airport; and Hamad Riaz Samana, 21, of Inglewood. Washington is a former inmate at California State Prison, Sacramento, and a former gang member.

…

Samana, a Pakistani national, is a student at Santa Monica College who has been in the United States for five years and has no known criminal history or connections to overseas extremists.

Levar Haney Washington and Gregory Vernon Patterson — they sound pretty American to me, and the only other player identified by name in that portion of the article is specifically mentioned to be a Pakistani.

I say it’s time we crack down on anyone fomenting hate in this country. We’ve done it to white supremacist groups for years, and deservedly so. If these people like Islam so much, send them to some backwater third-world country where they can enjoy all the benefits that the Islamic culture has to offer, such as the removal of their right hands if they commit their crimes of robbery in a Muslim nation.

You know, the only thing funny about this will be watching the squirming antics of the Left when they try and justify the religious and free-speech rights of Muslims while explaining away their disdain for the Christian religion and the free-speech rights of white supremacists. That’ll be a dance, won’t it?

TD