Tales of the Absurd: Wenyi Wang formally charged

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
there is no guarantee of freedom of speech without consequences if you knowing use that freedom to abuse or harass another individual...duh....duh......
You have to take responsibility for what you say....

Free speech means the goverment can't punish a person for expressing their views. Free speech can not have any consequences from the goverment.

So does that mean I can burst into the your bedroom protesting the crossbreeding of oysters with paperclips? I imagine that I would face consequences from the government.

Last time I checked, the Whitehouse is public property. Also, last time I checked the consequences of free speech are nothing.

Do not confuse tresspassing on private property and free speech. You can break into private property, but you can still say what you want. You will get arrested for breaking in, not what you said.

You could run into the Dixie Chix syndrome where you get hammered by your followers, but that is a completely different event.

A good point was brought up by another person on another board. Back in the Founding Father's day, it wouuld have been considered a duty to assassinate somebody like Hu (not that I am advocating that), a ruthless and evil dictator. Furthermore, it would have been considered an offense to have the President of the most free country in the world kiss the feet of said dictator. As was mentioned there, people like Patrick Henry wouldn't have been too pleased if the same scenario had happened back then.

While killing Hu, in this day and age, is definitely wrong and shouldn't even be considered, we, as a country, should take a discerning look at how we have modified our beliefs in what Freedom of Speech means, and what this country stands for.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: 1EZduzit

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

You could interpret what she said as a threat.

Do you personally think it was? I don't, and I don't think they have a case at all and are wasting taxpayer money to keeps us sheeple intimidated. It's not like she said she/they were going to kill him, all she did was embarass Bush a little. Heck, you'd think he would be used to that by now.

No, I don't think it was a personal threat to the Chinese leader. I think that at most she meant that his time or the Communists' time in leadership is numbered. I hope she wins over this ridiculous thing.

The entire Chinese visit has been an embarassment for Bush. Apparently the White House announcer used "The Republic of China" instead of the "People's Republic of China" link

Heck, we don't even know if she planned on doing this beforehand or if her emotions just got the better of her.

It was planned beforehand. The article says that she unfurled a banner.

 

[techs]

Its Bushes fault.
He should have told Hu thats the way it is in a free society. People get to yell out what they think. Not like in China were you sell the organs of people who say what's on their mind.
The fact there is not nearly 100 percent condemnation of this womans arrest shows how far down the road to fascism the US has gone.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Always apropos . . . Bush is a tool.

 

[Aimster]

no jury is going to convict her

if they do this country is turning into crap

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Also, last time I checked the consequences of free speech are nothing.

There are no consequences to free speech. But there are some consequences to speech that lies outside of designated free speech. Threats, slander, libel, etc.

 

[Moonbeam]

She made the US look like it is run by a bunch of clowns. Her time is running out. She will pay.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Also, last time I checked the consequences of free speech are nothing.

There are no consequences to free speech. But there are some consequences to speech that lies outside of designated free speech. Threats, slander, libel, etc.

Of which she did none of the above...

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Also, last time I checked the consequences of free speech are nothing.

There are no consequences to free speech. But there are some consequences to speech that lies outside of designated free speech. Threats, slander, libel, etc.

Of which she did none of the above...

I don't think that she should be charged, but it seems that they are putting her under the threat/intimidating. Just read the article.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Also, last time I checked the consequences of free speech are nothing.

There are no consequences to free speech. But there are some consequences to speech that lies outside of designated free speech. Threats, slander, libel, etc.

Of which she did none of the above...

Bingo . . . she expressed her belief (religious, cultural, spiritual, political) that there are consequences for immoral, inhumane actions . . . and that the head of state will bear responsibility. Bushistas are charging a crime b/c Wang's comments hit close to home, too.

 

[techs]

George Bush-Defender of dictators rights not to hear the truth.

 

[Harvey]

If Wenyi Wang can be charged with anything, then Bush should be charged with the same "crime." In his public remarks to Hu, Bush said:

"As the relationship between our two nations grows and matures, we can be candid about our disagreements," Bush said. "I'll continue to discuss with President Hu the importance of respecting human rights and the freedoms of the Chinese people."

Bush called for expanded Chinese freedoms to "assemble, speak freely and to worship."

Fscking hypocrite! :|

 

[Forsythe]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Also, last time I checked the consequences of free speech are nothing.

There are no consequences to free speech. But there are some consequences to speech that lies outside of designated free speech. Threats, slander, libel, etc.

Of which she did none of the above...

I don't think that she should be charged, but it seems that they are putting her under the threat/intimidating. Just read the article.

I agree with CanoWorms. The charges pressed against her are symbolic and i doubt she will be found guilty. This imo equates to whether or not the danish government should have pressed charges against the creators of the muhammed cartoons (which i believe they shouldn't have), and as so, i believe she shouldn't face charges.

[edit]
Oh and btw, this is to send a message to china that they don't think it was alright. Which is caving in to political pressure without any considerations for freedom of speech.

 

[MadRat]

For every President Hu Jintao there are a billion and a quarter screaming Chinese that agree with Wenyi Wang.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
there is no guarantee of freedom of speech without consequences if you knowing use that freedom to abuse or harass another individual...duh....duh......
You have to take responsibility for what you say....

Free speech means the goverment can't punish a person for expressing their views. Free speech can not have any consequences from the goverment.

That is total BS!!!
Plain and simple.
You threaten to assinate the president of the United states on these forums using your "Freedom of Speech" and you will get a visit by a government agency!!

lets see she obtained her press pass under false pretenses.....

After waiting overnight in jail, Wang was formally charged with "knowingly and willfully intimidating, coercing, threatening or harassing ? a foreign official performing his duties," a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of $5,000.

Wang did not break the law when she yelled "Stop oppressing the Falun Gong" at Hu or even when she unfurled a red-and-yellow banner of the Falun Gong, a religious movement banned in China. Wang broke the law ? crossing from First Amendment protected speech to criminality ? according to government prosecutor Angela George, when she yelled "Your time is running out," to Hu, and later, when she screamed "Anything you have done will come back to you in this life."

I guess you cannot use your freedom of speech to harrass or threaten another individual....

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
there is no guarantee of freedom of speech without consequences if you knowing use that freedom to abuse or harass another individual...duh....duh......
You have to take responsibility for what you say....

Free speech means the goverment can't punish a person for expressing their views. Free speech can not have any consequences from the goverment.

That is total BS!!!
Plain and simple.
You threaten to assinate the president of the United states on these forums using your "Freedom of Speech" and you will get a visit by a government agency!!

lets see she obtained her press pass under false pretenses.....

After waiting overnight in jail, Wang was formally charged with "knowingly and willfully intimidating, coercing, threatening or harassing ? a foreign official performing his duties," a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of $5,000.

Wang did not break the law when she yelled "Stop oppressing the Falun Gong" at Hu or even when she unfurled a red-and-yellow banner of the Falun Gong, a religious movement banned in China. Wang broke the law ? crossing from First Amendment protected speech to criminality ? according to government prosecutor Angela George, when she yelled "Your time is running out," to Hu, and later, when she screamed "Anything you have done will come back to you in this life."

I guess you cannot use your freedom of speech to harrass or threaten another individual....

No offense, but you're a tool if you believe "Your time is running out" crosses any line. No jury will convict her.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
That is total BS!!!
Plain and simple.
You threaten to assinate the president of the United states on these forums using your "Freedom of Speech" and you will get a visit by a government agency!!

Where, in anything Wenyi Wang said, did she threaten to assasinate anyone? :roll:

lets see she obtained her press pass under false pretenses.....

NO! She requested a day pass as a journalist for Falun Gong's publication, "Epoch Times." She didn't lie about it. Thats no more a false pretense than Jeff propa-Gannon Guckert obtaining a continuous stream of daily passes for his Republican shill front under the name "Talon News."

I guess you cannot use your freedom of speech to harrass or threaten another individual....

Yeah. According to the Bushwhackos, you can't use your freedom of speech to speak freely on relevant issues. You can only use it to pimp more of their lies. :|

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Obviously, this case would come down to whether she truly "harassed" Jintao since everything else rings hollow (threaten, intimidate, coerce). If convicted, I would love for this to make its way to the Supreme Court so we could strike such crappy laws from the books altogether.

If a public official . . . foreign or domestic . . . can't take public criticism then they need to crawl back under the rock from which they came.

 

[piasabird]

Anyone that acts in any kind of threatening manner at the White House Grounds can expect to be dealt with harshly. In China they would have just shot her in the head. The White House is the President's House and this is like going next door and threatening the neighbors visitors. While I do not agree with the punishment, I respect the President's right to protect his house.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: piasabird
Anyone that acts in any kind of threatening manner at the White House Grounds can expect to be dealt with harshly. In China they would have just shot her in the head. The White House is the President's House and this is like going next door and threatening the neighbors visitors. While I do not agree with the punishment, I respect the President's right to protect his house.

It's not HIS house . . . it's the People's house. As big a turd as Bush is . . . he's even called it that himself. The President isn't even a renter, he's a guest.

 

[wetech]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
She made the mistake that thinking America has the freedom of speech...Obviously, at Bush speeches, that's only the case in "free Speech Zones" usually set up several blocks away from the actual event...

As I posted in the other thread about this story, this law is ~ 50 years old. It has nothing to do with "free Speech Zones." You can blame Truman for signing this one into law.

Link

Originally posted by: Harvey
If Wenyi Wang can be charged with anything, then Bush should be charged with the same "crime." In his public remarks to Hu, Bush said:

"As the relationship between our two nations grows and matures, we can be candid about our disagreements," Bush said. "I'll continue to discuss with President Hu the importance of respecting human rights and the freedoms of the Chinese people."

Bush called for expanded Chinese freedoms to "assemble, speak freely and to worship."

Fscking hypocrite! :|

You're right, he's a hypocrite because it's Bush himself who's charging / prosecuting her and not the DA. Now whether or not she'll get convicted is up to a jury to decide.