Hate Speech Is A Crime: Tom Watson of #HillaryMen Perpetrated Anti-Semitic Hate Speech

[amborin]

Last edited Thu Apr 14, 2016, 12:39 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/combating-hate/Introduction-to-Hate-Crime-Laws.pdf

http://hatecrime.osce.org/what-hate-crime/anti-semitism

http://hatecrime.osce.org/what-hate-crime/anti-semitism


This needs wide publicity.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. At the very least he is showing the true colors

of some folks, The outings have been something else.

[AzDar]

2. Fucking DISGUSTING.

[litlbilly]

3. this needs to be posted far and wide. this guy is fucking sick. Fits the mold of the David Brocks

of the world and Hillary has them close to her.

[dchill]

4. As dog is my witness...

I didn't know Watson was with the Clinton campaign. This base act certainly redounds to HRC, and there can be no argument.

[Kalidurga]

5. How sweet of him to come to the defense of his girl.

Who is a Democratic Corporate Whore. Someone finally said it and it's true. She loves fracking money, she loves big pharma money, she loves big insurance, she loves big banks (and she can not lie), she loves donations from foreign countries, she loves pay to play. So it's out in the open now and people can decide what is more obscene the term corporate whores or the actual actions of corporate whores.

[agracie]

6. What did he say ? Link ?

[MattP]

7. Step down from what?

[Warren DeMontague]

8. I'm a Sanders supporter, but no, "hate speech" is NOT "a crime", sorry.

You can be a bigot or an asshole or even a "hate speaker" and it's still protected under the 1st Amendment.


From your 1st link (the ADL .pdf):

Hate crime legislation has never been about punishing people for their beliefs or speech. Rather, it is
about punishing people for their criminal actions.
The Supreme Court unanimously upheld Wisconsin’s hate crimes law (which is based on ADL’s model statute) in 1993 because the law
clearly did not criminalize hate speech, which is constitutionally protected.

[Nye Bevan]

29. I've seriously had DUers solemnly claim that there is a "hate speech exception"

to the First Amendment.

[Warren DeMontague]

45. Yeah, 1st Amendment conversations can be pretty distressing around here.

Like the people who were arguing during the Mohammed Cartoon situation that somehow it's illegal to blaspheme because the blasphemy might make someone else really, really, you know, mad.

[beam me up scottie]

9. What he said was hideous but it's still protected speech.

He has every right to be an anti-Semitic asshole, and we have the right to call him on it.

[amborin]

10. ok, so further reading shows there's no exception to the 1st Amendment for hate speech:

Search Results

Image result for is hate speech protected speech
Sorry, kids, the 1st Amendment does protect 'hate speech' The Supreme Court has not recognized a "hate speech" exception to the 1st Amendment. The Supreme Court has not recognized a "hate speech" exception to the 1st Amendment.Oct 30, 2015
Sorry, kids, the 1st Amendment does protect 'hate speech ...
www.latimes.com/.../la-ol-colleges-hate-speech-1st-amen...Los Angeles Time

So he doesn't face criminal charges. But will he be allowed to continue working for the Hillary Clinton campaign? She hired David Brock so I guess this is all ok?

[dsc]

11. did you sleep in history when the first amendment was discussed?

we have this little thing called freedom of speech.

[Avalux]

12. Hillary needs to apologize for this, NOW.

All the outrage over Paul Song using the term "corporate whore" - compared to this absolutely disgusting tweet.

Hillary? Where will you address this comment by one of your surrogates?

[NorthCarolina]

37. ^^^THIS^^^

👊👊👊

[Darb]

40. Surrogate?

Not so much. Should she apologize when I say something that the bernies don't like?

[NuclearDem]

13. Hate speech isn't a crime.

What he said was disgusting, but not a crime.

[reddread]

14. I think he incited a riot

see it coming?

[NuclearDem]

22. No, he didn't.

There are very specific criteria for incitement or imminent lawless action.

[reddread]

28. that riot is on its way

if that was a publicity stunt it might be the capper of this contest.
this joke has gone full godwin.
you know the rest.

[NuclearDem]

30. No, it hasn't.

That's not what Godwin's Law means.

You're on quite the roll.

[reddread]

31. excuse me

I have to deliver some drinking water to the fat lady.

[reddread]

15. sheds some light on that picture, you know the one

with Poppy and Wallace.

[vintx]

16. Disgusting but not a crime.

Also, nice wall of text

[KingFlorez]

17. That is not illegal

[amborin]

18. are you defending it? A Clinton campaign operative uses antiSemitic nazi speech?

[NuclearDem]

24. Defending free speech doesn't mean agreeing with it.

[Darb]

41. Campaign operative?

Are you sure?

[amborin]

19. Will Hillary apologize for keeping this person on the campaign? Will she fire him?

[BernieforPres2016]

20. Is this hate monger actually part of Hillary's campaign staff?

I thought he was just another random idiot on Twitter who happens to support Hillary.

If he is part of Hillary's campaign organization, where is her apology and why hasn't he been fired yet?

[amborin]

25. not exactly; he's a surrogate of sorts:

#HillaryMen are fathers, brothers, husbands and sons working to elect Hillary Clinton as America’s first woman president.

Peter Daou and Tom Watson founded #HillaryMen to provide actionable analysis of the 2016 campaign focusing on the gender barrier in U.S. politics. Peter is a former senior digital adviser to Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative. He is a veteran of two presidential campaigns (Kerry '04 and Clinton '08). Tom is an author and Columbia University lecturer who advises companies and non-profits on social activism.

The #HillaryMen project is unaffiliated with Hillary for America. We encourage fact based advocacy and do not condone personal attacks against Hillary's political opponents or the media. [A note on designation: we use Secretary Clinton's first name in posts and emails following the example of her campaign.]

http://www.hillarymen.com/

[BernieforPres2016]

26. Thanks. Based on Peter Daou's past work for the Clintons, that group qualifies as a surrogate

That's not some random guy on Twitter, like the ones Hillary's campaign used to create the phony "BernieBros" narrative (if the random guys weren't Hillary plants in the first place).

As far as "unaffiliated" and not coordinating with Hillary's campaign, that's what the SuperPacs say, and we all know it's bullshit.

So where are the media calls for Hillary to renounce this Tom Watson scumbag and demand that he disassociate himself from her campaign?

[MisterP]

56. repeatedly booted off of DU, too, I might add

[mythology]

43. In other words no

His tweet is stupid, ugly and inaccurate (among other things), but he isn't a campaign surrogate.

He should probably reconsider his life and career choices as he's failing miserably at both. But being connected to somebody who used to work for Clinton no more makes him a surrogate than my mom being a nurse makes me a nurse.

[Bluenorthwest]

21. It is not a crime it is just a demonstrartion of the man's roiling bigotry, a flavor of roiling

bigotry that is very common this cycle among his fellows. Hateful words are not a crime, just an offense to decency.

[polly7]

23. It should be a hate crime, imo.

[rogerashton]

27. It is not antisemitic -- but it is vicious -- to accuse others of being NAZIs,

unless they really are.

Apparently Watson has "apologized" for his statement as "historically insensitive."

http://twitchy.com/2016/04/14/hillary-clinton-surrogate-deletes-tweet-comparing-sanders-supporters-to-nazis/

(I have no idea what the slant of this website is, but the tweets were reproduced.)

OK, Hillary fans, here it is: if you don't believe we are NAZIs, better say so. If you do believe that -- how can you even suggest that we ought to be included in a unified Democratic party in the fall?

Bear in mind that we are likely to face a candidate who has been endorsed by several neoNAZI groups, and has not disavowed them.

[Tarc]

32. So, he made an analogy to Nazis. That's not "Anti-Semitic Hate Speech".

Plenty of so-called progressive/liberal types called the Bush administration a bunch of Nazis back in the, and also use it to describe Trump rallies now.

It may be heated, aggressive rhetoric...and I personally do not agree with it being applied to Sanders...but please spare us the faux outrage.

[NuclearDem]

33. This is the crowd that regularly invokes the "vampire squid" imagery without a second thought.

So, take the outrage with a grain of salt.

[one_voice]

46. oh shit. Now I have to google

vampire squid. Coin toss on googling before or after dinner....

[Behind the Aegis]

48. I'll save you a coin toss.

Jews have routinely been described as octopi, spiders, and squids. It shows their "many hands" in everything. It is a way of saying the Jews control everything. The vampire bit harkens back to blood libels and Jews using blood in their matzoh and killing Christian children for ceremonies, as well as the original "blood libel", the crucifixion of Jesus.

What that asshole said WAS anti-Semitic. It was very offensive to Sanders as well as to other Jews, but it seems a few people are upset that Jews are angry about this and are trying to pretend that slurring Jews really "ain't all that bad." Basically, they are inches away from accusing us of "playing the Jew card."

[one_voice]

53. well that's not very nice

such ugly words/terms/visuals we throw around without a second thought.

Whore, arm bands, nazis, vagina voting and so on..

..I don't like any of it.

Thanks for the explanation. Glad I didn't have to look it up.

The boy child came for dinner.

[amborin]

59. +100000

[Prism]

49. I actually did google and came up empty

What an esoteric thought.

I mean, I learned a lot about squids, but how that relates to a political campaign is vague at best. Did a random poster somewhere say something?

But here's a serious Today I Learned:

The vampire squid is an extreme example of a deep-sea cephalopod, thought to reside at aphotic (lightless) depths from 600 to 900 metres (2,000 to 3,000 ft) or more. Within this region of the world's oceans is a discrete habitat known as the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). Within the OMZ, oxygen saturation is too low to support aerobic metabolism in most higher organisms. Nonetheless, the vampire squid is able to live and breathe normally in the OMZ at oxygen saturations as low as 3%; an ability that no other cephalopod, and few other animals, possess.

[amborin]

34. yes, it was anti Semitic hate speech, no matter how anyone tries to absolve him

especially given the context: Bernie Sanders has relatives who were victims of the nazi holocaust. in context, and given the actual words used, there is no other way to characterize it

[Tarc]

35. Bernie Sanders doesn't get to trot out his Jewishness when it is politically convenient

Sorry, that ain't gonna fly around here.

At any other time, he is actively playing it down, especially when he bemoans the Palestinians' plight at the hands of the bad-guy Israelis.

There's a reason why Clinton is blowing him out of the water wit the New York Jewish vote, and we're seeing a Grade-A example right here.

[amborin]

36. your post doesn't address the issue

[phleshdef]

38. Stop conflating anti-Likud with anti-Semitism. Its dishonest bullshit.

And actually, Sanders GETS to trot out his Jewish heritage anytime he damn well pleases and there isn't a thing you can do about it. Its no different than Clinton supporters trotting out gender. Its gonna happen and everyone has to live with it whether they like it or not.

[Tarc]

39. I just did do something about it, bro; called him out on his bullshit

Again, there's a reason why the Jewish guy from New York isn't winning

a) the Jewish vote
b) New York

Sanders is

a) critical of, and borderline hostile to, Israel .
b) has not lived in New York since 1968.

[phleshdef]

42. Oooh, you posted something on the Internet! You accomplished so much!

Fuck the Likud. They are no better than the neocons. And if you support what they've been doing to the Palestinians, you are no better than Cheney.

[Tarc]

50. If you support what the Palestinians and Hamas do to Israel..

...then you ar no better than <bad guy of the moment>.

See how that game works, bro?

[phleshdef]

54. I don't support terrorism coming from the Palestinian side. But I understand exactly why they are...

...angry. Both sides are doing awful things to each other, but the Likud party and Netanyahu are no better than Hamas.

Its the same reason I understand why a lot of people in the middle east hate America. Our foreign policy for the past 30+ years has done nothing but fuck them over.

And I'm not your fucking bro.

[Tarc]

55. Cool story, bro

The sides are not equal, Israel has been surrounded by enemies and attacked literally from the moment of their creation.

[phleshdef]

64. You are obviously another Bibi Neocon boot licker and thats not a cool story.

Its a sick, deranged, dangerous true story.

[Behind the Aegis]

44. He isn't "trotting out" his Jewishness.

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but he is a Jew. He...just...is...a...JEW! If anyone was "trotting out Jewishness" it was the asshole who made that disgusting comment. There was likely a reason he chose that comparison and it ain't because Sanders is fond of the color brown! But if this is your line of thinking, you remember it, I will, the next time Clinton "trots out her gender."

[Tarc]

51. Sanders is Jewish when it it is convenient, i.e. when there's voters to woo

Otherwise, you wouldn't even know.

[Behind the Aegis]

58. No, Sanders is a Jew. PERIOD.

He doesn't pretend to not be Jewish or claim he isn't Jewish. If your accusation were true, then your statement in the body wouldn't be true, because he has been wooing voters for over a year!

[Warren DeMontague]

61. Seriously. Good Grief.

So glad the "TP" all-stars have been allowed back, it really elevates the tone around here, doesn't it?

[Behind the Aegis]

62. It is telling, that is for sure!

[Warren DeMontague]

63. ...

[JI7]

60. what does that even mean ? he has always been jewish, do you think all jewish people must be

a certain way ?

[Tarc]

65. WHOOSH

[Prism]

47. Hate speech is not a crime

What is a crime is that someone gave this man a laptop unsupervised.

[northernsouthern]

52. In Germany because of certain events...

But no in the US. I think if you harass some one or make them feel in danger then yes. But this guy is just an ignorant fool that like all of the Lyndon Larouche pamplete people holding Hitler Obama posters. I am sure he is trying to tie socialism with the Nazi party for a guy that has families that were the very victims of said crimes. Always funny when Americans do that sh@t since we are the ones that created the whole sterilize the minorities. He is an idiot and I am sure he would still be calling people Nazi's as an insult even if he was goose stepping a family to Auschwitz.

http://usuncut.com/politics/prominent-hillary-supporter-deletes-tweet/
He did delete it though..good for him...that was just practice for their attempt to make Socialism Fascism...get ready for Hillary's..."I don't think Bernie is a Hitler supporter."

[AngryAmish]

57. Tom Watson is married to a Jew and quit his club because of their antisemitic policies.

And he just played his last Masters.

[Jefferson23]

66. huh? Do you have a link about this..are we talking about the same man who posted the anti-semitic

crap about Sanders?