i’ve written before that I believe it is utter foolishness to defend the freedom of speech by celebrating the obnoxious or profane. Some in the ACLU seem to think the protection of child porn somehow allows the rest of us to have greater freedom to criticize our politicians. Idiocy.
There is a pressing need to protect our right to speak freely, as several governments around the world are crushing the voice of opposition. Putin, of course, is ahead of that damnable curve.
Putin’s move from the Presidency to Prime Minister’s office has apparently (does this surprise anyone?) done nothing to lessen his grip on power. And now he has formally banned a list of opponents from television, including not only prominent heroes like Garry Kasparov, but humorists and satirists as well. This article is the story of how they digitally erased Mikhail Delyagin (forgetting to erase his legs in one shot) from a TV broadcast. Stalin would be soooo proud.
Maybe it is less surprising that Singapore would arrest a critic. But to arrest a US citizen? For criticizing a judge? Bloggers beware.
Let’s look westward. How would the French treat Voltaire today? They’ve tried and convicted Bridget Bardot of “provoking discrimination and racial hatred” for saying that France is:
tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts.
Bear in mind that about the time she made this comment France was watching Muslims start car fires every single night.
France not close enough to home? Turn your attention to Canada and remember that Mark Steyn was hauled before the Canadian Human Rights Commission for his opinion piece in MacLean’s. The Canadian government still supports a strong tradition of free communication, and it is difficult to imagine Canada ever cracking down on humorists as Putin has done. And yet their PC institutions have allowed themselves to become a tool of intimidation against a political writer.
I have heard it said that one of the distinquishing characteristics of the Age of Enlightenment is that this is the time when people began to monitor the activites of their government. Many things had to come together. That included the early beginnings of newspapers, a literate middle class, sufficient material wealth, and the rights we associate with the First Amendment to our Constitution. Knowledge is power. Only with sufficient knowledge were men finally able to make government their servant.
The people at the ACLU have strange priorities. When they being stalked by wolves, they worry about a few gnats. Freedom of speech is about political speech. While I do not think I can easily define porn or political speech, I think we can easily distinguish between the two. To handle those few cases where there might be some doubt, we have juries.
Comment by Citizen Tom — June 3, 2008 @ 7:44 pm