Why do some people believe the 1st Amendment guarantees protection from ridicule along with freedom of speech?

Now I’ll apologize for thinking you were implying the government helped coordinate the attacks. The vast range of views being expressed on these threads in the past few days has opened the door to a great deal of misunderstanding. People have verbally high-fived me who I’m sure would never agree with my political views. And I’ve been at odds with people I’m probably more closely in tune with.

To be clear, I think people are idiots if they honestly believe–as some have suggested–that the Bush family or factions within the government helped plan or coordinate the attacks or that the towers were destroyed as part of an insurance scheme. I think Rashard is an idiot for saying of bin Laden “we’ve only heard one side of the story” on a public forum.

I do not think people are idiots for questioning the many many intelligence, security, emergency-response, and procedural blunders surrounding the attacks. I do not think they’re idiots for questioning the government response to the attacks, Constitutional abuses, thousands of lives lost and destroyed, billions of dollars wasted in still unexplained military actions, and why we’re still engaged in these wars. I don’t think they’re idiots for questioning who has profited from the attacks and subsequent wars and whether our nation is any more secure now than on 9/10/01. We should be asking these questions and more.

I think Mendenhall should be commended for thinking about his faith and how that relates to the celebrations over bin Laden’s death. My problem is that he and other players need to
grow up and recognize that they are public figures. That’s why people bother to follow them on Twitter–but it’s also why they can’t just spout off about whatever they want without consequences. He represents his employers and his brand. He needs to think before speaking on controversial subjects.

Mendenhall prides himself on learning and was only 13 when the towers fell. He didn’t come off as ignorant because he had only 140 characters. He came off as ignorant because he never bothered to research whether “we’ve only heard one side” before announcing that to the public at a sensitive time.

I do not attempt to “pigeon hole” anybody into political categories, however when I’m told I have to be an immature dimwit to not know that Bin Laden has taken credit, I take offense. Oliver North warned the US a long time ago than Bin Laden was the most dangerous man in the world and they all laughed because they couldn’t even repeat his name right.

It’s also inappropriate to assume that my belief that the US failed to prevent the attacks is the same as me believing that they helped coordinate them. You are correct that the aftermath of the attacks was used to fuel a a long standing agenda and my stance is that if the US government was not part of the solution they were, in fact, part of the problem instead.

So while I do apologize for my blatant snarkiness, I do not see how what you are saying about the government and what guys like Mendenhall are saying is that different other than some of us are smart enough to word it better and give ourselves more than 140 characters to explain our stance in a logical manner that doesn’t come off as ignorance.

My degree is in journalism and I spent more than four years living with paramilitaries in one of the world’s hot spots. I’m very aware of how and why governments manipulate events, journalists, and public perception. I never take anything at face value. As someone who writes for a living, I’m an excellent and experienced researcher. And my posts here demonstrate that I not only think for myself, but have no fear of taking positions opposite the majority. Perhaps you should stop being so condescending and stop trying so hard to pigeonhole people into various political categories.

Just as supporting the Patriot Act is a separate issue to the 9/11 conspiracies, so is our participation in Iraq and the nonexistent WMDs. As I’ve posted on other threads, I am well aware that some post-attack decisions were made with profit and other strategic motives. And I know private corporations have reaped the benefits of what happened that day. This is nothing new. People have always profited from war and tragedy. I’m only disputing the contention that the government or any individuals within the government conspired to orchstrate the 9/11 attacks because there is no credible evidence to support those theories. The existence of dots does not mean the dots connect.

One thing I can assure you: The more people you believe are involved in a conspiracy of this nature, the more certain you can be it was not a conspiracy. The reason paramilitary groups throughout the world operate in small, disconnected cells is that the fewer people who have information, the fewer can divulge information. That is why bin Laden eluded capture for so long.

The evidence shows that bin Laden and his supporters have hit a number of targets throughout the world since 9/11. They had an agenda. And factions within the government had an agenda, which 9/11 gave them the opportunity to pursue. Taking advantage of the opportunity provided by a national tragedy is not the same as orchestrating the tragedy.

The fact remains that the Bush family has had long standing ties with the bin Ladens as well as other suspect ties to people later involved in criminal or terrorist acts. These ties are well documented by respected sources dating all the way back to the 70′s.

I do not care to argue the validity of statements made by a guy who runs for a living. I am merely stating that his opinion is widely shared world wide and that it does, in fact, have substance to it. In the end, we all believe what we choose to believe because rarely, if ever, do all the true facts come out in these matters.

I suppose you still support us searching for WMD’s in Iraq even though it was essentially admitted that there were none?

I understand that to some people being patriotic means not questioning their government, however I do not share that view. I am about using all available, credible information to form my own thoughts and opinions. I like to call it “thinking for myself”. Try it some time. This is the information age afterall.

Accustomed to running a multi-billion-dollar business, are you? The incomes of dozens of people depend on your decision-making, which requires a level of prudence for the good of the team. That means you can’t play Medieval king and scream “off with their heads” the moment someone displeases you. Regardless of how arrests are reported in the media, the team has a responsibility to assess the individual circumstances based on the details of the incident and their personal experience with the player. If it’s determined that person is not a good fit for the organization going forward, the team also has a responsibility to ensure the organization is not hampered by the release.

Mendenhall hasn’t done anything to warrant being cut. I am upset by his comments on many levels, but he has a right to his opinion. Unfortunately, he’s too young and immature to understand how his opinion as a public figure can set off a firestorm that reflects on his employers. The bigger fault lies with the Steelers for not addressing the Twitter issue after other players ran into trouble with their uncensored ramblings. If they had done so and he had ignored their rules, then he could be fired for cause.

Raping college students———OK
Saying stupid crap————–Not OK

—————————————–
Medical exam on Georgia woman proved no one raped her or had intercourse with her that night despite her loud and continual propositions of Roethlisberger. Explained in detail both in the public record and by Prosecutor Fred Bright more than a year ago.

So as a rape survivor, let me help you get it:

Falsely accusing men of rape and jeopardizing the credibility of real rape victims—NOT OK

Being a jackass who says stupid crap about a non-rape on a football blog—NOT OK

Linking a non-rape in any way with the murder of more than 3,000 Americans on 9/11–NOT OK

Go screw yourself. And have a nice day

would be no surprise if the CIA has a very much alive bin laden. right now it is takeing a bit of time to touch up those photos to make it appear he was shot in the head. must be a big job as its taken this long.

You’re mixing apples and oranges! I’m extremely concerned about government overstepping its boundaries with some of the provisions of the Patriot Act. That is not the same as questioning whether al Qaeda was responsible for 9/11 and saying “we’ve only heard one side of the story” regarding bin Laden. That simply is not true. Unless you’re an immature, uninformed squirt like Mendenhall, a dimwit who gets news from conspiracy Web sites, or someone who’s been living in a cave (not bin Laden because he lived in a nice suburb), you’ve heard bin Laden take credit for 9/11 and other atrocities. We have heard his side of the story.

Come on.

Well said Deb:)

You’re mixing apples and oranges! I’m extremely concerned about government overstepping its boundaries with some of the provisions of the Patriot Act. That is not the same as questioning whether al Qaeda was responsible for 9/11 and saying “we’ve only heard one side of the story” regarding bin Laden. That simply is not true. Unless you’re an immature, uninformed squirt like Mendenhall, a dimwit who gets news from conspiracy Web sites, or someone who’s been living in a cave (not bin Laden because he lived in a nice suburb), you’ve heard bin Laden take credit for 9/11 and other atrocities. We have heard his side of the story.

Come on.

Wow you might as well run for office..in the Middle East! Is Michael Moore your favorite director? Is Conspiracy Theory your favorite movie?

*************************************************************

I think the bigger question is ‘are these your best zingers?’ because they’re weaker than Karen Carpenter in a sauna.

Well if my “zingers” are bad what does that make your response?

Wow you might as well run for office..in the Middle East! Is Michael Moore your favorite director? Is Conspiracy Theory your favorite movie?

*************************************************************

I think the bigger question is ‘are these your best zingers?’ because they’re weaker than Karen Carpenter in a sauna.

Raping college students———OK
Saying stupid crap————–Not OK

Look around the web. Hundreds of thousands, if not MILLIONS, of people support his statements and have bee nsaying the same things for a decade now.

I’d venture to guess that world wide more people agree with his assessment than they would most of the folks here.

Keep getting molested at the airport and saying thanks for it.

In the words of Ben Franklin – “He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.”

Touchdownroddywhite:

Wow you might as well run for office..in the Middle East! Is Michael Moore your favorite director? Is Conspiracy Theory your favorite movie?

Look around the web. Hundreds of thousands, if not MILLIONS, of people support his statements and have bee nsaying the same things for a decade now.

I’d venture to guess that world wide more people agree with his assessment than they would most of the folks here.

Keep getting molested at the airport and saying thanks for it.

In the words of Ben Franklin – “He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.”

It’s mind-boggling to me why the Steelers didn’t impose communication rules after Santonio publicly tweeted his intentions to break the league’s substance abuse policy–and the law. Now during the lockout, with no one from the front office to stop him, our bozo QB has given interviews on his bathroom reminders–bathroom being a word he should never, never utter to the media–and on his religious abstinence prior to marriage. God grant me patience. And this foolish, foolish young man, who was in grade school on 9/11, has made himself a lightning rod on a national security issue.

But … I don’t know that it’s fair to cut a player outright for exercising his right to free speech and for being foolish and ignorant without having first warned him not to be foolish and ignorant on a public forum.

saxmachine69 – the Saudi government invited the US to station troops in its sovereign land so as to assist in repelling Hussein’s invading forces from Kuwait…where the US was greeted as liberators. The Saudi government did so, despite bin Laden’s offer to carry out the task himself, such that bin Laden was enraged that the Saudis allowed infidel forces into the land of the two holy places…and such that he set out to war against the US (who had previosuly armed “his people” as you call them to repel Soviet invaders from Afghanistan). So when bin Laden orchestrates acts of terrorism around the globe, mostly killing fellow muslims, and orchestrates the death of almost 3,000 people on 9/11, he was simply:
“a man who went to an extreme route to retaliate on the country who had done so much evil to his people”…I’d really love to know just what we did that makes his conduct “no less terrible than what your country has done to them.” …and we are the blind & delusional? You obviously have no respect from women, civil liberties, religions other than your own (or any other thoughts other than your own)…you are a whole special form of idiot.

That might be a concern if we cheered a rapist or a guy who beats his girlfriend, but since they didn’t, we don’t.

Mendenhall is an idiot but you’re a habitual liar. As an employer, I’d be more concerned about you.

Bin Laden exposed the citizens of this country to be a bunch of bullying cowards, who, if you hit them hard enough, will curl into a ball.

Bravo Mendenhall and if I were him and ANYONE from the Steelers attempted to even talk to me concerning what I said, I would either punch them in the face or remind them that it’s a free country and I can say what I want or both.

I too, am amazed at the wild celebrations over kiling one human. Bin Laden accomplished all that he intended plus some

It getsmore subime, the country has probably sacrificed more soldier lives in the past 10 years post 9-11, then was lost in the actual attacks.

Face it, 9-11 was the 1st time the country got punched in the face on it’s mainland and we reacted like some ..p.u.s..s.i.e.s.

I get what Mendenhall was saying, he wasn’t saying have sympathy for Bin Laden. Mendenhall was pointing out something Americans are LOATHE to do-see the whole grand picture and see it for how complex it all is.

Osama Bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian who was mad at the U.S. for helping to prop up the current authoritarian Saudi Arabian kingdom, while going spouting propaganda about democracy.

That’s what Mendenhall was talking about, it’s more complex and layered than the average American wishes to believe. We are a simple-minded people, so we wish to see the world in stark black and white terms, but the world is more gray, more shady then we wish it to be. The world is not “Disney” and Americans tend to see it in Disney-like terms. Neither I nor Mendenhall support Bin Laden-we just see, or at least, ATTEMPT to see the bigger, grander picture.

If this country can’t take a simple punch in the face, which is all of what 9-11 was, then why are we so eager to play geopolitical games with the rest of Earth?

You have to accept death, killings, bombing, wars and revenge as a cost of playing this game, otherwise stop playing it.

I also glad he made his statement, I’m tired of right-wing whites ruling the debate and conversation on this subject. Free speech man, free speech.