tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3977100651062963844.post3881246793777362999..comments2024-03-28T12:31:13.509-05:00Comments on Throne, Altar, Liberty: Obnoxious Self-Righteous Jerks versus Basic Human DecencyGerry T. Nealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12137796641408373451noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3977100651062963844.post-83508602875877965502017-08-03T21:01:45.106-05:002017-08-03T21:01:45.106-05:00Would it be OK if I cross-posted this article to W...Would it be OK if I cross-posted this article to WriterBeat.com? There is no fee, I'm simply trying to add more content diversity for our community and I liked what you wrote. I'll be sure to give you complete credit as the author. If "OK" please let me know via ecmail.<br /><br />Autumn<br />AutumnCote@WriterBeat.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3977100651062963844.post-9314550418627963862017-07-25T23:59:05.237-05:002017-07-25T23:59:05.237-05:00You did seem to suggest that they should hold thei...You did seem to suggest that they should hold their respective tongues and let the memorial service progress unhindered, or unobjected to or be condemned as "obnoxious etc etc."<br />Surely as a proponent of free speech, you should have celebrated their exercise of free speech and also applauded the protection that The Charter gave those whom you supported?<br />Including Hitler in the category of "other totalitarian regimes" when defending the free speech rights of Zundel, Kleegstra etc does seem like more than a deliberate ploy to try and have you cake and eat it, but maybe "other totalitarian regimes" is all you could bring yourself to mention while mentioning the Soviet Union specifically.<br />Finally, Kulaszka may have had more credibility as a defender of free speech if her clients had included non-Hitlerites, or people whose philosophy included penalising people for their thoughts. Did she once defend a Stalinist? A Maoist? I think not. In fact when it came to defending Free Speech, I think she and Christie were fairly specific in whose "free speech" was worth preserving.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3977100651062963844.post-75172077247243677402017-07-24T22:51:15.740-05:002017-07-24T22:51:15.740-05:00A) Nowhere in this essay did I question the right ...A) Nowhere in this essay did I question the right of Farber, Warman, or Kinsella, to express their objection to the memorial. I passed judgement on them for them for their boorish attitude towards other people's rights to have a memorial service.<br />B) I did not include a list of "ne'er-do-wells and despots with lists of proscribed literature and art." I pointed out the parallels between the introduction of hate propaganda laws in Canada and attempts to suppress freedom of thought in the "history of the Soviet Union and other totalitarian regimes." "Other totalitarian regimes" most certainly includes Hitler's and I made this explicit when I stated that "It is this desire to silence people with laws that penalize them for their thoughts and words that lies behind the hate laws that Kulaszka fought against which is akin to the spirit of the totalitarianism that was Nazism, not her brave and dedicated efforts to fight this tyranny." I included the very sentiment that you accuse me of leaving out.<br />Gerry T. Nealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12137796641408373451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3977100651062963844.post-60245423745878765752017-07-24T19:42:52.832-05:002017-07-24T19:42:52.832-05:00The memorial went ahead as planned and those who w...The memorial went ahead as planned and those who would suppress the free speech rights of others, if their preferred philosophy prevailed at the ballot box, got to assemble and memorialise their recently deceased colleague. What is interesting though is that you should take such umbrage over people using their right to freedom of expression to express their views about an event that happened on publicly owned premises. Surely, if foreigners like Zundel have a right to freely voice their opinions on Canadian soil, then actual Canadians should have that right too? Isn’t you objecting to the likes of Warman, Kinsella etc. objecting to the memorial, no different than them objecting to free speech that you approve of? A true advocate of universal free expression would surely agree that all parties have the right to say what they want, wouldn’t they?<br />What was also interesting was that in your list of ne’er-do-wells and despots with lists of proscribed literature and art you failed to include Hitler. Was that an oversight on your part, or was it because the “victims” of censorship you listed deeper into your post were apologists for, and/or supporters of Hitler? It would undermine your argument a bit if you had come out and said “even Hitlerites have a right to free speech, because doing otherwise would make those restricting that free speech like Hitler… who suppressed free speech, and had lists of artworks that were verboten.” I guess that that was why you left Hitler off of your original list, or am I wrong?<br />I also find your umbrage to be very strange given your recent criticism of Khadr and the payout he received. Much as this memorial went ahead and silly politicians/personalities tried to make political capital out of it even though clearly in the wrong; Conservatives, such as you, reacted to the compensation to Khadr in exactly the same groundless manner. Your post of the 9th of July 2017 is full of the same type of “obnoxious, self-righteous” grandstanding and hyperbole with regard to the compensation payment to Khadr that you decry in others in the above instance. The memorial service went ahead because there was no legitimate reason why it shouldn’t and every reason for it to go ahead as it was a public event and booked in the correct manner. The Khadr payment went ahead because the Supreme Court of Canada had already made two rulings that the Canadian Government had illegally contravened Khadr’s Charter rights and to fight on would be throwing good money after bad. I agree with both things happening as they did, and I’m pleased that the system worked in accordance with the Charter in both cases. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com