Pat Condell on that pesky First Amendment that keep oppressing progressives by hurting their precious feelings.
Posts Tagged ‘Free Speech’
Bill Maher on the Charlie Hebdo Killings
Friday, January 9th, 2015Bill Maher once again states the obvious to those unwilling to listen, harkening back to the days when liberals believed in free speech rather than labeling it “hate crimes.”
A few quotes:
The second half of the interview is Maher on the Bill Cosby accusations. But at least watch the first six minutes.
(Hat tip: JihadWatch.)
Dispatches From The Twitter Wars
Thursday, July 17th, 2014These seem like parts of he same story:
If you are receiving this email, it means you ordered a copy of my book. Yet no one has received any copies yet, and I owe you an explanation why.
I am presently legally barred from fulfilling the order. The South Carolina lawyer disciplinary authorities—government officials—have determined that my political and religious commentary is “unethical.” I am legally barred from sending you a copy of my book at this time. (Well, I could send you a copy, but I could be disbarred for it.)
This is the culmination of a two year secret investigation of me by the South Carolina Commission on Lawyer Conduct and the South Carolina Office of Disciplinary Counsel, two entities that have taken the position that the First Amendment simply does not apply to lawyers. Unsurprisingly, no Democrat lawyers have been targeted so far as I know, and the people in charge of the South Carolina Office of Disciplinary Counsel have solid Democrat voting histories.
I encourage you to do discuss this matter in public and on Twitter and Facebook, and you are free to contact the people involved to complain. Here are some excellent talking points: (1) This is just like the IRS Tea Party targeting scandal, because I am being targeted for my political commentary but absolutely no Democrat lawyers are being targeted. (2) Anyone with half a brain understands that the genuinely offensive things I say are merely to provoke the Left and are my distinctive brand of political commentary. (3) If my political activism wasn’t effective, no one would be trying to shut me up. (4) Unlike the Mozilla controversy and other examples of private boycotts, the South Carolina lawyer disciplinary authorities are government agents who are punishing private citizens for political and religious advocacy that is not to their liking. (5) This is book burning, plain and simple. (6) If I lose my right to speak freely because I am a state licensed professional, anyone in a state licensed profession is subject to having their free speech rights taken away from them. (7) This case is one of the absolute best arguments against state licensing for professions. Once government gets its dictatorial foot in the door, everyone in the room becomes a slave to whatever group of petty tyrants happens to run that wing of government at any given point in time.
The reason for my silence about this matter until now is that I truly thought they would come to their senses about all of this. In fact, they indicated to me more than once that they would not punish me for political or religious commentary that was not to their liking, after initially demanding that I stop saying anything offensive on Twitter. (That was why I briefly stopped using profanity on Twitter in late 2012, in case you were wondering what that was all about.)
However, in early June, just as I was preparing to send out my book, I received an unexpected notice from the South Carolina Office of Disciplinary Counsel that the investigation was going to continue because of comments I made on Twitter regarding a left wing political activist named Col. Morris Davis, a frequent guest on MSNBC. (I have no indication that Col. Davis has anything to do with this—it appears a supporter of his filed a bar complaint on me, the seventh or eighth complaint filed on me in recent times.)
As a result of all this, I have prepared and filed a lawsuit in federal court. Please read the attached complaint that was filed earlier this evening. I will fight this matter all the way to the United States Supreme Court if I have to. Surrender is not in my DNA. However, I have no choice but to stop tweeting and hold off sending out copies of my book or engaging in any other advocacy until the federal court gives me clearance to do so without fear of professional repercussions.
#SalonExcuses What right-wing libertarian theocrats call "parody" is nothing more than an effort to silence marginalized voices.
— Popehat (@Popehat) July 16, 2014
Why Parody Should Be Regulated and Progressives Should Be the Regulators http://t.co/0Kbj5P99TH #FreeSalonDotCom
— SalonDotCommie (@IloiloKano) July 17, 2014
Noam Chomsky explains how communism has been ruined by white privilege. #Freesalondotcom
— Hugo Hackenbush (@MangyLover) July 17, 2014
The Stealth Anti-Feminist Messaging of Dunkin Donuts, where the eclairs and bearclaws are always displayed higher than the donuts
— SalonDotComLives (@AceofSpadesHQ) July 16, 2014
Derridas And Derridon'ts: How To Avoid Linguistic Hegemony When Deconstructing Your Children's Artwork
— Popehat (@Popehat) July 16, 2014
I like to think @salon had to scrap a good 25% of upcoming stories b/c @salondotcom accidentally stole their thunder. #FreeSalondotcom
— Will Antonin (@Will_Antonin) July 17, 2014
.@Salon: Stop Laughing at Historical Hate Crimes: Why Blazing Saddles Should Be Banned
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) July 16, 2014
.@Salon If You Argue With A Gay Person Or Minority, You're Automatically Wrong #FreeSalondotcom
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) July 17, 2014
.@Salon Who's More Rabid: A Rabid Dog, Or The Gun Owner That Shoots It? #FreeSalondotcom
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) July 17, 2014
.@Salon A Second Nobel Peace Prize? Obama's Masterful Handling of The Middle East #FreeSalondotcom
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) July 17, 2014
.@Salon Why An Obscure Church With 8 Members Represents The Hate In All Christian's Hearts #FreeSalondotcom
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) July 17, 2014
One Lakeway Man’s War Against Speed Traps
Sunday, December 26th, 2010Meet Lance Mitchell, the man who runs speedtrapahead.org. He not only founded a website to warn people about speed traps, he actually stood up the road from one in his home of speedtrap-crazy Lakeway in his bright orange “Speed Trap Ahead” t-shirt…and got arrested for his troubles. The charge? Among others: illegal signage. For wearing a t-shirt.
Federal courts have pretty regularly held t-shirts to be a form of free speech (see Boroff v. Van Wert City Board of Education, for example), so it’s no surprise that all the charges were dismissed, and Mitchell has reached a settlement with Lakeway on his own lawsuit.
(Hat tip: Fark.)
This Week in Jihad for November 24, 2010
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Sadly, Jihad doesn’t wait for American holidays, so here’s a roundup of related news:
- 13-year old Pakistani girl gang-raped by members of the ruling party for her brother’s involvement in helping another woman get married to the man she loved (rather than an arranged marriage).
- Not wild about the Ground Zero Mosque? You might be paying for it.
- Even The New York Times notices Britain’s jihad schools. All it took was a program on the BBC. Maybe the Beeb could do a piece on how higher taxes and bigger government are actually unpopular among Americans…
- New “anti-bullying” law may just be another way to restrict politically incorrect speech on campus…including criticism of the Religion of Peace.
- Oppressive Middle Eastern regime with ties to terrorist groups stonewalling International Atomic Energy Agency about their nuclear program. Hmmm, for some reason that scenario sounds strangely familiar…
- Hezbollah threatens to take over Lebanon.
- It’s not a surprise when Pakistani officials defend the Taliban, since they were essentially created by the Pakistani ISI. However, it’s a bit more surprising when it comes from the Minister of Tourism.
- Of course, The Pakistani ISI are not to be confused with the Islamic State of Iraq terrorist group, which is currently railing against…Microsoft? (You have to be an MEMRI subscriber to see the full report. I may have to sign up…)
- This week’s winner in Irrational Fatwa Bingo is…blood donations.
- Finally, less a link than a question. Yesterday, in the course of fisking the latest WaPo gun control article, Dwight at Whipped Cream Difficulties linked to this table of law enforcement deaths over the last decade. The odd thing is that it shows 5 police deaths by terrorism in 2007, and despite racking my brain, I can’t think of any terrorist incidents that involved police officers that year. Can anyone figure out how and where those five deaths occured?
NRA Selling Out on Free Speech to Obama/Pelosi/Reid?
Monday, June 14th, 2010So the reports go that they’ve cut a deal on the anti-free speech DISCLOSE Act. Pelosi and company are besides themselves with joy.
Members might want to contact the NRA at all levels to know this is a very bad idea. You can also call them at 1-800-672-3888.