Gingrich declares himself an enemy of constitutional government

The 1st Amendment Is Not a Suicide Pact: Blocking the Speech That Calls for Our Death by Newt Gingrich - HUMAN EVENTS :

"The fact is not all speech is permitted under the Constitution. The 1st Amendment does not protect lewd and libelous speech, and it should not -- and cannot in 2006 -- be used as a shield for murderers.

"Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy put it best: 'With an enemy committed to terrorism, the advocacy of terrorism -- the threats, the words -- are not mere dogma, or even calls to 'action.' They are themselves weapons -- weapons of incitement and intimidation, often as effective in achieving their ends as would be firearms and explosives brandished openly.'"

Former US House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) at times says some reasonable things, but this is one of those times when he goes off the deep end.

Gingrich, for an intelligent fellow, seems too easily to miss the mark in this context. He makes mention of obscenity and libel as categories of speech which are actionable at law without making the obvious observation that it is precisely free speech which makes those offenses possible. Under a regime of prior restraint, which he appears to advocate with respect to folks who might say something useful to terrorists, only approved speech is possible and obscenity and libel would not be approved.

The fact that, under our constitution, the general government has no power to control speech content in advance is a principle too dear to throw out for fear of what some enemies will do with it. To grant such a power to government will, sooner or later, lead to efforts to muzzle essential political speech. This is what we see happening now in Venezuela where newly re-elected president Hugo Chavez is openly considering shutting down private media outlets that challenge the growing cult of personality fostered by the government's own media. Closer to home, but further removed in time, we have the examples of the Alien and Sedition Acts under President John Adams and the suppression of Democrat newspapers by President Abraham Lincoln during the Late Unpleasantness.