"take a camel" says Ann Coulter

[NineOfClubs]

An odd statement, given that the organization mot representative of the the spirit of Voltaire's famous aphorism is the ACLU - widely considered far left, and a favorite target of the right wing for demonization.

You conveniently ignored my remarks earlier---praising the ACLU for defending the rights of American Nazis to march in Skokie.

Some vague notion about a "right to assemble", I guess.

 

[MercuryJones]

You conveniently ignored my remarks earlier---praising the ACLU for defending the rights of American Nazis to march in Skokie.

Didn't read, rather than ignored.

But your acknowledgment of that makes the idea of the right-wing as the modern day Voltaire yet more curious.

 

[bankside]

3) As an American, I consider freedom of speech and assembly our most important freedoms . And I think most "hate speech" laws ARE fascist, unless someone is inviting actual physical violence against someone or some group. Stupid, bigoted people have the same right to free public speech as I have.

People outside the US have a difficult time understanding this. But it's particularly sad that so many Americans, particularly young people, don't understand that the same rights that enable gay people to promote freedom and justice for us, apply to those who disagree with us. If a governemnt can tell Anne Coulter to keep silent, it can turn around and say the same thing to us.

4) I find it particularly amusing that many of the same people praising the Canadian hate-speech law for protecting religious people from said speech would presumably be subject to arrest there for some of the public remarks concerning religion posted right here in this forum.

Canadian Hate Speech law is new, and quite a storm was kicked up when the law was passed. It is a law passed in a country with a very strong tradition of free speech, and constitutional guarantees of that as well. When the dust settled, the principles in it are very well established and the application of the law is very narrowly defined. Courts did not take the law as a license to lock people away for having unpopular opinions, nor does the law come close to permitting that.

In Canada, people don't get locked up for saying things the government doesn't like. However it is illegal to produce "any writing, sign or visible representation that advocates or promotes genocide or the communication of which by any person would constitute an offence under section 319." Even then there are exceptions for telling the truth, offering up venom in the guise of a religious opinion, etc. Hardly "fascist." In fact it is an abuse of the term that shows a fair bit of ignorance of history.

However, despite the University's letter of warning, the government didn't ever intervene in this. She just wasn't welcome. Anyone, not just a government, can tell Ann Coulter to shut up, because all that comes out of her mouth is noise. They should get her under the city noise by-law, if anything. She can always go stand on the corner with her sandwich board around her neck and her hand out for nickels, ranting where she belongs. She doesn't belong in any university smart enough to realise she's just an unacademic stooge.

There is no law in Canada that requires a crackpot foreigner to be taken seriously for her shrill rantings, and given guaranteed billing, and an escort of Mounties, and special permission from the fire department to exceed occupancy limits in a lecture hall.

By the way one of the other important freedoms in a democracy is the freedom to protest. Does anyone imagine that those protests should be forbidden from working? Does anyone imagine that protests should be entirely for show? No! Sometimes they can have an impact. Within reasonable limits in a free and democratic society, as our constitution would put it, protesting is a right and another form of free speech. In this case, the protesters carried the day. Sometimes protesting works!

If anyone is truly concerned about freedom of speech, Coulter is not the (nut)case to worry about. Read this instead http://www.slate.com/id/2248809/ and do something on behalf of Ayyan Hirsi Ali.

 

[Piquechampion]

Liberals are the most intolerant people I know. Freedom of speech, as long as it's "their" speech.

I will exercise my freedom of speech that you conservatives love so much:

I WISH ANN COULTER DEAD... IF I COULD DO IT MYSELF, I WOULD

Well there ya go

 

[NineOfClubs]

I will exercise my freedom of speech that you conservatives love so much:

I WISH ANN COULTER DEAD... IF I COULD DO IT MYSELF, I WOULD

Well there ya go

In Canada what you just said would probably be a crime.....

 

[LittleDove]

I suppose the irony of her situation is that if she actually did live in that fantasy world in which she professes to believe best she would face conviction as a common scold.

As for her claim to be a Christian, is she truly is a Bible-believing Christian, as she says she is, why does she appear in public with her head uncovered? And why doesn't she follow St Paul's admonition to be silent, and to learn in submission? Why does she dress immodestly?

 

[wundersteve]

The media view on this has been unanimously in favour of free speech, and that this incident is an embarrassment for Canada's international standing as a supposedly democratic nation.

Here is just one sample:

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=2727750

Coulter needs apology, teachers' association says

'Serious questions'; Letter to Ottawa provost in defence of free speech
Robert Sibley, Canwest News Service Published: Friday, March 26, 2010
OTTAWA - University of Ottawa provost Francois Houle should apologize to American pundit Ann Coulter, says Canada's main university teachers' organization.

"We feel you [Houle] owe an apology to Ms. Coulter and, even more importantly, you owe the University of Ottawa community an assurance that the administration of the university strongly supports freedom of expression, academic freedom and views the role of the university as fostering and defending these values," officials with the Canadian Association of University Teachers said this week in a letter to Mr. Houle.
Meanwhiule, last night about 40 protesters stood gathered outside the entrance to the Red and White Club at Calgary's McMahon Stadium waving homemade signs and chanting "Ann Coulter go home" and "free speech not hate speech," while about 900 students and ticketholders filed in quietly and orderly. Just a handful of police officers and security guards stood watch, silently.
Ms. Coulter, an often controversial commentator, cancelled a speaking engagement at the University of Ottawa earlier this week because of a mob of shouting students denouncing her presence. But even before she spoke Mr. Houle took it upon himself to write the best-selling author a letter warning her against violating Canada's hate-speech laws. Ms. Coulter was set to speak in Calgary last night.
The uproar Ms. Coulter left behind when her Ottawa speech was cancelled on Tuesday amid a raucous protest has spurred even greater interest into the previously low-key Calgary event. Late on Wednesday, Calgary organizers moved Ms. Coulter's speech to a venue with double the capacity.
A local anti-racist group is planning to protest outside Ms. Coulter's appearance. The University of Calgary is beefing up security for her speech following the Ottawa incident.
Mr. Houle's conduct has been denounced as condescending, a violation of freedom of expression and even intellectual cowardice.
The Association of University Teachers president Penni Stewart and executive director James Turk added to the denunciations in their letter, saying Mr. Houle's action also "raises serious questions about the University of Ottawa's respect for freedom of expression and academic freedom."
Since the Coulter cancellation, the University of Ottawa has been widely mocked in the Canadian and U.S. media as a bastion of small minds.
The association, while claiming to "profoundly disagree" with Ms. Coulter's views, said the "disturbing questions and provocative challenges" she raises should be welcomed and subjected to "vigorous debate."
The organization represents more than 67,000 academic and general staff at colleges and universities across Canada.
In a brief statement on Wednesday, University of Ottawa president Allan Rock defended his institution and said that free expression is a core value of the school that bills itself as Canada's university.
"We have a long history of hosting contentious and controversial speakers on our campus. [Tuesday] night was no exception, as people gathered here to listen to and debate Ann Coulter's opinions," he said.


​

 

[BearBoi]

@ wundersteve

I’ve always considered Canwest to be a conservative-leaning news source. This article did little to dilute that opinion.

I believe Mr. Houle’s letter was fully justified in light of the fact that, the night before at another University, Ms. Coulter abandoned the points of her speech and instead devoted the evening to bashing the Canadian gay rights movement and the Obama administration.

The only thing I am saddened by is that she got exactly what she wanted. If it were up to me, I’d let her speak. I’d let her tour go without a hitch or blip of controversy. Thank the bitch for coming, and then show her the door.

But the ultra-right wing American political organization that partly FUNDED her speeches, the ultra-right wing group that sponsored her coming to Canada, and the Fox-News agencies in America are eating this shit up…

Bah!

In Canada what you just said would probably be a crime.....

He said "wish" and "if" -- it was not a direct statement.

And if it had been, I believe America has laws against issuing death-threats, too.

 

[gadgdfgsg]

hmmm....
wouldnt the world be a better place
is she oh i dont know...
wasnt alive any more?
along with palin...

 

[Jack Springer]

hmmm....
wouldnt the world be a better place
is she oh i dont know...
wasnt alive any more?
along with palin...

I assume your a compassionate, caring liberal. Wishing a person was dead is just wrong.

Shame on you.

 

[BlondeCanadian]

I dont wish either of them dead, i am sickened with how far they have risen..neither of them should be anything close to relevant in any sense of the word... Palin should be back in Alaska raising her children(and i dont mean that as a slam against woman or stay at home moms) and Coulter should be spewing her venom from a soap box on the streets. neither are qualified (in the case of palin) nor sane and logical nor are they smart enough to do either of their jobs... Watching Ann talk against anyone with any intellect is just a joke and palin should just be recognized as the gimmick to get pissed off hilary supporters votes that she is and fade back to obscurity

 

[MercuryJones]

Wishing a person was dead is just wrong.

Why?

I do really wonder. Wishing can't make it happen. And everyone dies eventually.

Or do you believe in magic feelings that make things happen that otherwise wouldn't?

 

[MercuryJones]

Voltaire, by modern standards, would be considered right wing.

Again, this is a ridiculous claim.

Who in the right wing supports freedom of speech for people they disagree with? Virtually none that I can think of. They're all over their own speech being protected, but that's not very Voltaire-like.

As referenced earlier, ACLU is the leading champion of free speech regardless of content, and they are widely considered a left-wing organization, and frequently demonized by the right.

So who are these right wing champions of free speech they disagree with?

 

[Piquechampion]

Again, this is a ridiculous claim.

Who in the right wing supports freedom of speech for people they disagree with? Virtually none that I can think of. They're all over their own speech being protected, but that's not very Voltaire-like.

As referenced earlier, ACLU is the leading champion of free speech regardless of content, and they are widely considered a left-wing organization, and frequently demonized by the right.

So who are these right wing champions of free speech they disagree with?

Certainly not those who called for the song Breakeven (from The Script) to be censored for the line: praying to a God that I don't believe in

I started a thread about it

 

[rareboy]

Again, this is a ridiculous claim.

Who in the right wing supports freedom of speech for people they disagree with? Virtually none that I can think of. They're all over their own speech being protected, but that's not very Voltaire-like.

As referenced earlier, ACLU is the leading champion of free speech regardless of content, and they are widely considered a left-wing organization, and frequently demonized by the right.

So who are these right wing champions of free speech they disagree with?

Gotta say. It is how we see it. But in case I haven't made the point emphatically enough before....

Coulter was the one who cancelled her speech. The university didn't. The students didn't. She could have given it across the street. She chose not to. Why?
Because she was on her way out west to preach there. And what better way to demonize the 'liberal' elites in Ottawa than to claim falsely that her free speech had been muzzled. It was a cynical and calculated move in order to appeal to the western separatists and uber conservatives out there.

 

[gsdx]

Gotta say. It is how we see it. But in case I haven't made the point emphatically enough before....

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

I doubt if even adding Bold and Italics and Underlining it would help.

 

[rareboy]

I hear conservative white canes tapping as we speak. I guess you have to be a Canadian to understand.