SYDNEY, Australia — Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia said Monday that the government would seek to revoke the citizenship or curb the rights of Australians involved in terrorism and tighten immigration, visa and hate speech laws in a crackdown on terrorism.1) Revoke Citizenship: Absolutely. One should ask why citizenship was given in the first place. How did they fool the authorities? Who were the authorities who were fooled? 2)Curb the Rights of Australians Involved in Terrorism: I believe the law for that is called treason. Nice to know that Australia has figured that out. 3)Tighten Immigration: Exactly what any nation should do if the people who declare war on you say they'll use immigration as a means of infiltration. 4)Tighten Hate Speech Laws: Ummmm....no. restricting speech beyond that which is an immediate danger to the public (fire in a theatre) is wrong, wrong and wrong. And European countries with special speech codes to protect Jews and the like should be held accountable for that and have those laws revoked. Yes, we have to tolerate the site of Nazis, Klansmen and the like in order to maintain this basic and essential freedom.
(17 years of informed commentary)