Posted on 05/10/2009 3:51:53 PM PDT by ReformationFan
Great Britain's decision to ban Michael Savage because of his "extreme views" marks a dark day in the history of free speech.
The shame should be particularly severe in a nation that gave birth to John Stuart Mill, the 19th century political philosopher whose writings so strongly advanced the cause of open dialogue.
Mill argued in his pivotal essay "On Liberty" that intolerance to hear opposing views amounts to an assertion that the politically correct view is infallible.
Doubting that any human view could be without error, Mill fought hard to convince readers of the importance of encouraging the expression of views they found distasteful.
Clearly, protecting the speech of those who agree with us misses the point, unless the British government has fallen so far from John Stuart Mill's defense of liberty that free speech is not to be tolerated simply to protect politically correct biases that can be advanced only if critics are silenced.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Thanks for posting, RF!
Let’s ask Rush.
Savage calls hatfilled mislims for what they are, hatefilled muslims driven by their religion of hate. And for that he has my support.
No problem, dynachrome. Gotta keep up the fight for the Doc.
Is he an expert on British immigration?
Or perhaps on American expatriotism?
Why would he need to be consulted? Does he know more than you?
The left will continue to define “extremism” downward until they have effectively muzzled anyone who doesn’t goose-step in perfect harmony.
I stand with Savage (even if I have a difficult time listening to him!).
Ask rush what exactly???
Like Doc Savage say’s
The First Amendment was written to protect “offensive” speech, not candy coated speech.
I’m with Savage all the way too. AND I have never heard him say anything to enduce acts of hateful viloence. Ever!
If you read the law (or whatever exactly it is) that is the justification for keeping Savage out of Britain, it states that they will not allow anyone in who might cause public disturbances by their mere presence.
Britain is afraid of its Muslim population; ditto for the rest of Europe. They don’t want to deal with riots and possible terrorist attacks.
You may not agree with it, but that is their real reason. The “hate speech” part is not what they are really concerned about.
This is a particularly foolish view in these dangerous times. But perhaps Rush is tired of his gig and would prefer to just golf and enjoy his millions. And being driven from the air waves by the government would provide him an obvious face saving way to achieve this.
This is sad since Rush almost single handedly helped the Republicans attain power. Too bad they disappointed him (and all the rest of us) so badly.
Playing devils advocate here for a minute:
JSM did not support anything absolutely if it violated his ‘harm’ principle. On the subject of free speech, he cites an example in his essay “on liberty” where he suggests it should be OK to print a pamphlet stating ‘corn dealers starve the poor’, wheras standing before an angry mob in front of a corn dealers house, and saying the same thing orally, should be proscribed for obvious reasons.
Perhaps the British Government is simply being over zealous in applying Mill’s ‘harm’ principle to the idea of letting Savage into Britain....
Back from sabbatical, are ya?
Hope you had some good days off!
I stand with Savage as well and I can't listen to him.
Rush Limbaugh??? ... employee of 0 M0t0rs? That Rush Limbaugh? Sean also.
0M writes the biggest chunk of their paychecks!
It is what it is.
Listen closely with a grain of salt next time. You'll notice it.
I dunno about that. First, this is happening in the UK, not the USA, so it doesn’t speak directly to any looming US policies. Frankly, I think you have an anxious British bureaucrat adding Savage to a list to appease Muslims, and any other terminally offended people in their electorate. Weak, yes, but it is born from weakness and cowardice.
Further, I think this is fantastic marketing for Savage and that he probably loves it.
As for Rush, he just signed an 8 year, $400 million dollar deal. He has nothing much to do with this situation. And if he is tired, he has 400 million reasons to get up every weekday and do what he does.
That's not exactly true!
I have heard him quote several portions of the queeran that CLEARLY call for MURDER.
Question from one ignorant Brit...
Who IS Savage anyway?
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