David Strom:
Perrino's view is that the First Amendment is a codification of a universal right to free speech, and in principle, I agree. However, where we differ is the extent to which the United States government is obligated to protect that universal right for the entire world and everybody who resides within it.
Clearly, we have no obligation to invade every country and impose our notion of human rights everywhere and always. That would be quite a burden and likely counterproductive. There are, we all know, practical limits that all human beings face. Few of us manage to follow God's laws perfectly in our own lives; perfecting the world is not in the cards, nor should we try.
But surely we can at least ensure that a universal human right applies to everybody within our borders, right? That, it seems, is Perrino's point, and it is worth pondering.
The answer, I think, is clear: no, it is not right to expect that the protections afforded US citizens apply universally to everybody within the borders of the United States. In fact, the idea is absurd, and it is also codified in US immigration law.
The US government exists to defend and promote the rights of US citizens. WE all understand--well, many people don't understand, but should--that the First Amendment protects our ability to call for the destruction of the US government. It protects our right to be offensive, to argue for communism or fascism, to become a member of the DSA, and even run for Mayor of New York City. We can donate to candidates of our choice, have other rights such as those provided by the 2nd Amendment, and so on.
Visitors to the United States, on the other hand, are here at our sufferance. They are guests. Visa requirements specifically limit the rights of foreigners in ways that the federal government can't limit those of US citizens, and is very clear on the matter.
There are plenty of US citizens who work tirelessly to destroy the government of the United States. Many are, wrongly, actually underwritten by subsidies provided by the US government to universities and colleges. The author of the Antifa Handbook is a professor at Rutgers, although he has absconded to Europe now that Antifa has been classified a terrorist organization.
Our taxes have helped pay his salary. I disagree that we were obligated to do that, but I agree he has a right to promote Antifa as an idea, if not an organization.
But no citizen of another country can or should have the right to do the same. We need not import revolutionaries from other countries to preach the destruction of the United States government, or other offensive or dangerous ideas. Doing so is a choice, because nobody has an inalienable right to be here.
Booting somebody out of the United States is not a violation of their inalienable free speech rights--they are not being tossed in jail, after all, for their speech. They are being booted from the country, where they have no right to be in the first place. They are guests.
# posted by Ranger @ 5:08 PM
