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One of my maxims is “when tolerance becomes a one way street, it leads to cultural suicide.” And it is playing out once again with horrific ramifications for a Florida man. Due to political correctness, we are constrained in what we say at home — even though we “supposedly” have a first amendment right to free speech.
Here’s what UN Resolution 16/18 would look like if it comes to pass. And if you don’t know what that resolution is – it’s not condemning ISIS — look it up.
As reported by Foxnews.com, “A hallmark of American life — griping about work — has landed a Florida man in a Middle Eastern jail. Ryan Pate, a helicopter mechanic from Belleair Bluffs, Florida, took to Facebook after a dispute over sick leave with the company he was working for in the United Arab Emirates.”
“He was home in Florida at the time, but when he returned to Abu Dhabi last month, he was told to report to the police station, where he was arrested for breaking an Emirates law on slandering his employer. He spent about 10 days in jail, he said, and is now free on bail awaiting a March 17 trial.
His supporters say he faces up to five years in prison and a steep fine if convicted.”
Apparently in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) it is illegal to defame a person or a business even on the Internet, where it is referred to as cyber-slander. As well, any disparaging comments regarding Islam carries a punishment. Mind you, Mr. Pate committed these so-called offenses while here in Florida.
It’s funny how we’re in such a rush to release Islamic terrorists because their detention is cause for concern and hatred towards America — supposedly. They’ve done far more than make disparaging comments – they’ve participated in operations to kill Americans, but some feel their being kept off the battlefield is, well, not nice.
So here we have an American citizen potentially facing a prison sentence of five years? Now, I am going to ask a simple but rhetorical question, where are President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry? Then again, it was President Obama who stated at the United Nations that the future does not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Like I said, purely a rhetorical inquiry.
“I just couldn’t register it in my head because as an American growing up in the United States, the First Amendment right is just ingrained in my brain,” Pate said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I never even entertained the fact that I would wind up in prison out here for something I put on Facebook in the United States.”
“Pate, 30, said the incident stemmed from a trip to Florida in December. During his return, he spent the holidays with family and proposed to his girlfriend, Jillian Cardoza, but also was trying to get treatment for a back injury. There was disagreement with his bosses about extending his leave to see a doctor, he said, and after a particularly unsatisfactory phone call with them, he took to a Facebook. He says he can’t remember precisely what he wrote, but knows he called his bosses “backstabbers” and warned other contractors not to work for them.”
I just want everyone to consider the precedent and ramifications for Americans here. Basically what is being stated is that our freedom of speech and expression, our First Amendment rights do not carry forward with us.
It’s no different than our troops deployed in Muslim nations being told they cannot display or speak of their faith — meaning, their freedom of religion means nothing outside the United States. Yet, others come to America and we’re told to be tolerant and accepting of beliefs that are antithetical to our basic fundamental principles and values.
Let us never forget that Jews and Christians are not allowed anywhere near Mecca or Medina, yet we allow Muslim clerics in the National Cathedral, Muslim prayers to be given on the Capitol lawn, and even have Muslims with affiliations to the Muslim Brotherhood meeting with the president in the Oval Office.
Now, the Islamapologists will come back with the retort, “we’re better than they are.” Hmm, well, I don’t see it that way — and neither do they. The true perception is one of supremacy and surrender on our part.
We allow heads of state in certain Islamic nations to speak ill of America and yet they’re free to travel to this country — the current and past leader of Iran come to mind.
Fox news writes, “Pate’s congressman, Rep. David Jolly, intervened on his constituent’s behalf, lobbying the State Department and Emirates officials for help. In a letter to the Emirati attorney general, Jolly emphasized respect for the sovereignty of the country, but argued because the posts occurred while Pate was on American soil, those laws shouldn’t apply.”
“It is deeply troubling that Mr. Pate now faces judicial proceedings over an action that was done legally in his home country,” the Republican said. The Emirati Embassy in Washington said it did not have much information about the case and couldn’t comment. An after-hours email to the company, Global Aerospace Logistics, did not get an immediate reply.
A State Department spokeswoman, Marie Harf, said a consular officer had visited Pate in prison and that the embassy in Abu Dhabi would continue providing assistance.”
Ok, let me digest this — an American citizen is arrested for something he posted on Facebook while in America in the UAE and the state department spokesperson says that he was visited and that assistance will be provided? There is only one answer: we are escorting Mr. Pate out of the UAE and he will be landing back in the United States within the next 12 hours.
If Mr. Pate had assaulted a UAE citizen in any manner, I wouldn’t think a second about his being detained, charged, and incarcerated — without bail. But this is unconscionable, an American is being arrested in a foreign country because his freedom of expression is not respected.
And I reject the notion of Mr. Pate having to apologize. How about the next time someone travels to America who refers to our Jewish allies as being descended from apes travels they’re detained? Now, just how well would that go over?
Did you read up on UN Resolution 16/18 as presented by the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC)? If you did you realize how it is materializing by way of this case. Locally here in Irving, Texas we have a Sharia law court being established — funny, I thought there was only one rule of law in America.
Do not portend to bore me with the typical progressive socialist left religious relativism argument. It holds no weight. As the Muslim Brotherhood’s Explanatory Memorandum states, they will destroy us by our own hand by way of using our own liberties and freedoms against us.
The case of Ryan Pate is chilling in that it says American freedom and liberties stop at water’s edge — in essence, we are prisoners in our own land. We are censored within and without — as groups like CAIR dictates who should be allowed to speak in our own doggone country.
Yes, it has occurred, speaking against Islam is becoming a crime — punishable by imprisonment. Mr. Pate should be immediately redeployed out of the UAE and not stand some kangaroo court of 7th century origin.
I suppose my ever visiting Dubai again or Abu Dhabi is now off the table — unless I do so enjoying another fundamental American right — the right to keep and bear arms, which is even under attack here at home.
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