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Originally Posted by xepherys
The_Jazz... I don't see any stipulation that requires it be MATERIAL aid. Tokyo Rose gave no MATERIAL aid, but was harrassed by the govt. for years (decades?). She was to be tried for treason, and only wasn't because they could not substantially prove the person they had was, in fact, Tokyo Rose.
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And the big difference here was that Toyko Rose (and her German counterparts) was actually paid by the Japanese. She was tried and convicted of treason, but the testimony used agaisnt her was suspect at best, and there is evidence that she was forced into the role with threats and force.
http://www.earthstation1.com/Tokyo_Rose.html
There is a huge difference between agreeing with the enemy's points and actually aiding them. They are mutually exclusive, and it should be very easy to see. The First Amendment gives you the right to shout from the mountaintops that Osama bin Ladin is the Second Coming and that we should dismantle Western society and follow him to the Promised Land. You can put that on a sign and organize a Fourth of July parade around it if you want. However, the moment that you threaten an individual with bodily harm, you are over the line.
You do realize that there has a Communist Party in the US for over 100 years, right? The McCarthy hearings with HUAC were basically all about supressing people's First Amendment rights to believe what they wanted and discuss it with who they wanted. Swap out "communist" and "terrorist-sympathizer" and the situation is pretty similar, right? If you can see that and understand that this is all protected speach, you're just an idiot. And see - that's protected speach too. I can call you an idiot all day long, which would make me more of an asshole than I'm comfortable with, but it's still protected speach. Americans have the right to be assholes, jerks, morons, dumbasses, saints, angels and geeks, and we practice it every day. When I call you an idiot, you have the right to ignore me, which is the mature thing to do. However, if I say that I'm going to kill the Vice President because I don't like bald me, that's over the line. It's not a fine line and it's pretty bold.
You do have the right to come take a dump on the sidewalk in front of my house as long as you don't expose yourself and you properly dispose of the waste afterwards so that there isn't a health hazard. It's not in good taste, but it's protected speach.