Not so free speech after all

I suppose it was too much to hope for when the jury upheld Sami Al-Arian's free speech rights after prosecutors failed to convince them his radical pro-Palestinian speech was not linked to any actual crime or terrorism. Now we learn:

"Federal authorities hit with a stunning defeat in a terrorism case against a former Florida college professor are considering deporting him instead of retrying him." ...

"The agency can deport any foreigner it deems a terrorism risk. The burden of proof for deportation is lower than it is in the criminal courts."

When a nation is so afraid of dissenting views that it banishes dissenters from its midst, you gotta wonder. I thought we were the good guys and the world is jealous of our freedom. A free country can tolerate and thrive even if some nutcase is screaming nice things about brutal killers. Liberty means Al-Arian has the right to his beliefs as long as he didn't commit a crime himself - and 12 of his peers wasn't convinced he did.