Sunday, January 13, 2008

It Can't Happen Here?



The publisher of the Calgary, Alberta, Canada Western Standard, Ezra Levant, was hauled before the Alberta Civil Rights Commission for a hearing on whether he had committed a crime by publishing the Danish Mohammed cartoons. Levant has posted at You Tube a series of four (so far) video excerpts from the hearing. I have embedded Part 1 above. Parts 2 through 4 are here, here and here.

Levant's defense of his right of freedom of speech is articulate, impassioned and compelling. If you want to understand why creeping governmental dhimmitude and pandering to radical Islam is the greatest threat to our freedoms today, watch these videos. Mark Steyn is next.

Nor is the US immune. As one example, consider the actions of officials at San Francisco State University, who put "the College Republicans on trial . . . for hosting an anti-terrorism rally at which participants stepped on makeshift Hezbollah and Hamas flags. University officials . . . alleged that the students desecrated the name of Allah, which is written on both flags in Arabic script." Only after strenuous efforts by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and others were the students acquitted. You may be confident that the enemies of free speech and Western values are continuing their efforts. Just take a look at FIRE's Speech Codes of the Month page.

All of which reminded me of Frank Zappa:



Thanks to Little Green Footballs, which posted about the videos here and here.

Update:

Mark Steyn's thoughts are here and here.

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