Posted on 06/09/2008 7:08:44 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
Look at his insistence that "you're not going to allow us" — Muslim Canadians — to have access to national media. Who's stopping him? Indeed, through his vexatious complaints against Maclean's, Mr. Awan has garnered for himself, his cause and the CIC more press coverage than any other articling student in the country. Were he truly being denied freedom of the press and of speech, his name and views would have been suppressed.
Nor is anyone attempting to stop him from starting his own magazine or newspaper or taking advantage of low-cost Internet alternatives such as blogs and podcasts to get his message out. Freedom of the press protects an individual's or group's right to do whatever they are able, within their own means, to get their opinions out. It does not — and never has — give them the right to insist the state use its power on their behalf to make those with contrary views and presses surrender those presses to the complainants.
What Mr. Awan and his benefactors at the CIC want is all the power of the press with none of the risk or cost. They want the government to help them leverage someone else's presses for their personal views.
Oh, yes, and while they're at it, they would like to silence and punish those who disagree with them by having a judge create some previously unknown Charter protection against "group defamation" with penalties of "a few million dollars." Just winning equal time is not enough, chilling the speech of their opponents is also very much part of their agenda.
While Mr. Awan and his co-complainants wrap their cause in rights-talk, their actions betray their wrongheaded understanding of core freedoms.
(Excerpt) Read more at network.nationalpost.com ...
I'm confident that they understand it just fine.
I'm concerned, however, that the National Post does not fully understand the nature of the Muslim complainants.
“I’m confident that they understand it just fine.”
Absolutely right. And these thick-headed Muslims know that in a battle of wits and sheer linguistic skill with Mark Steyn, they are armed with a stick against his rapier. Muslims can’t compete in a world of ideas, so they kill their betters.
Well said. This isn’t a “misunderstanding” about the nature of free speech; it’s an attempt to eliminate it.
They don't have to - it's Canada, not America.
You can bet that the leftist moguls in the US are studying this kerfuffle closely to see what they can do to also suppress free speech in flyover country. Anyone remember the “fairness doctrine.”
So incredibly disheartening. So sad.
Among the first things a President Obama will do is to stifle free speech (muzzle Rush Limbaugh & Sean Hannity), outlaw all personally owned firearms, and control access to health care. He will be a tyrant.
Count on it. NO FEAR is more than a skateboard motto, it's how real patriots and Americans have always reacted to tyrants trying to steal our freedom. Hopefully, for their sake, the leftist useful idiots have some gut level feel for this. If not, I pity them.
Beautifully stated.
Obama has said that whne President he intends to indict and try members of the present Republican administration for war crimes.
What say you?
No, he won't - unless his idea of "change" is another Civil War.
I believe he doesn’t care. After he “won” the Democrat nomination - did you see how arrogant he behaved?
He intends to impose radical change and will steamroller anyone who gets in his way. Already he’s mentioned indicting and trying for war crimes members of the present Republican Administration.
Oh, the radicals behing Obama would welcome a civil war!
I get the impression that the puppet master pulling Obama’s strings (I don’t believe he is as smart as the MSM trumpet) would welcome a massive, violent civil disturbance. It would knock us down very hard economically and distract us from the Islamo-fascist activities ongoing in Europe, the Caribean Sea area, and in southeast Asia.
Look: it's all crazy speculation at this point. I do believe that Obama intends radical change, but of the "turn up the heat slowly so the frog doesn't realize he's being cooked" variety.
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