Posts Tagged ‘free speech’

Blair and Surber on civility

Posted: January 17, 2011 by datechguy in internet/free speech
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Tim Blair has a must read post today about how obsession, comparing the “Jewish conspiracy” fetishes in the Arab world with the Palin obsession of the left, it skewers all the right people and closes thus:

If Palin’s “extreme rhetoric” causes murders, perhaps we should be keeping an eye on media leftists, for they seem most taken by the popular Alaskan grandmother and Facebook pundit. Bizarrely, they also imagine that others – including 22-year-old drug-sucking gamer burnouts like Loughner – follow her with similar obsession.

More likely is that Loughner was simply a goon with a gun. Meanwhile, the broader case remains unexamined. If the “extreme rhetoric” of Palin and others leads to greater violence, we should see that reflected in homicide statistics. But the murder rate in the US keeps falling, according to the Washington Post last May: “For the third consecutive year, violent crime has declined in the United States, including a 7.2 per cent reduction in homicides.”

I blame Sarah Palin.

Meanwhile on our side of the Pacific Don Surber is mad as hell and isn’t going to take it anymore:

For two years now, I have been called ignorant, racist, angry and violent by the left. The very foul-mouthed protesters of Bush dare to now label my words as “hate speech.”

Last week, the left quickly blamed the right for the national tragedy of a shooting spree by a madman who never watched Fox News, never listened to Rush Limbaugh and likely did not know who Sarah Palin is.

Fortunately, the American public rejected out of hand that idiotic notion that the right was responsible.

Rather than apologize, the left wants to change the tone of the political debate.

The left suddenly wants civil discourse.

Bite me.

Don’t hold back Don tell me what you really think.

Meanwhile on the left we see the civility used when jealous of being unable to match the hits of a single law professor in Tennessee.

The myths of the left will likely continue but as facts continue to come out watch the mask continue to slip.

Nothing like living under constantly changing rules

Posted: January 15, 2011 by datechguy in internet/free speech, media
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In his examiner column today Glenn Reynolds (tomorrow’s guest BTW) talks about how the rules concerning “patriotic dissent” apparently change as desired by the holders of the meme:

“Protest is patriotic!” “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism!”
These battle-cries were heard often, in a simpler America of long ago — that is, before last November. Back then, protests — even if they were organized by the usual leftist apparatchik-groups like ANSWER or ACORN — were seen – at least in the media – as proof of popular discontent.

Yes we remember those halcyon days of yesteryear, when one could call for the murder of a president and yet simply be expressing dissent, exercising the rights guaranteed under the constitution. Who cares if some group might have fronted it. However now that the tea party has become a source of such protest…

Funny how fast the worm — or maybe it’s the pitchfork — has turned. Now that we’re seeing genuine expressions of populist discontent, not put together by establishment packagers on behalf of an Officially Sanctioned Aggrieved Group, we’re suddenly hearing complaints of “mob rule” and demands for civility.

Civility is fine, but those who demand it should show it. The Obama administration — and its corps of willing supporters in the press and the punditry — has set the tone, and they are now in a poor position to complain.

That’s why a “living breathing Constitution” is in my opinion BS. That allows people to decide it says what they want it to say rather than what it actually says (a contract).

I guarantee we will be talking about this tomorrow.

Oh Canada that Bastion of free speech fear

Posted: October 22, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech
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A Mark Steyn speech in at the University of Western Ontario was proving too popular so they searched for a venue that was larger. The London Convention Centre owned by the city was a good choice but the city had other ideas:

“The reason offered by the LCC [in a Tuesday morning phone call] was that they had received pressure from local Islamic groups, and they didn’t want to alienate their Muslim clients. It’s interesting to note that the LCC is owned by the City of London, and is therefore a government operation,” wrote Strictly Right’s Andrew Lawton at the website.

Nice to see civic leaders standing tall to pressure when it comes to free speech.

Strictly Right have found a larger — and more expensive — venue. Mr. Steyn will speak on Nov. 1 at London’s 1,600-seat Centennial Hall.

Let’s hope for their sakes that none of those guys working for the City of London have side jobs at NPR.

Answer: “The person in question is not Islamic”

Posted: July 26, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech
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Q: What is the one thing you can be sure about when reading this headline: “University to student: Accept homosexuality or leave“?

The story follows:

The suit alleges the university retaliated against Keeton for stating her belief that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice and not a “state of being,” and that gender is not a social construct subject to individual change. According to the suit, the school wants her to undergo a “thought reform” program intended to change her religious beliefs. She faces expulsion unless she complies, and the suit seeks to block the university from throwing her out for noncompliance.

“Is saying there is such a thing as a male and a female as distinct, and that gender isn’t merely a social construct … such a dangerous position that it has to be banned from a profession?” French asked.

According to court documents, one of Keeton’s professors, Dr. Mary Jane Anderson-Wiley, told her this past May she would have to undergo a remediation program intended to change her views on homosexuality.

The university’s Counseling Education Program handbook proscribes such programs for those whose conduct is “not satisfactory on interpersonal or professional criteria unrelated to academic performance.”

Can anyone honestly describe this as anything less than totalitarian? Would such a program directed at a gay student forcing them to accept say Baptist teaching on Homosexuality be allowed at a state university?

I think not.

Here is the kicker:

Anderson-Wiley reportedly complained about Keeting’s Christian belief that homosexuality is sinful and demanded she choose between her faith and the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics.

“You couldn’t be a teacher, let alone a counselor, with those views,” court documents quoted Dr. Paulette Schenck, another of the university’s counseling professors, as having said in response to Keeting’s affirmation of her Christian beliefs.

No Christians need apply apparently. No wonder universities seem to have such a love of Chavez, Castro et/al they have the same thought police ambitions on a smaller scale.

Would the above mentioned Dr. Schenck dare say this to an Islamic student who believed in Sharia? Of course not, totalitarians are notorious cowards.

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