Combs Spouts Off

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Posts Tagged ‘free speech’

Regulating political speech: the next step

Posted by Richard on October 4, 2007

The long national nightmare of the Bush-Cheney-Halliburton police state continues unabated, and the authoritarian forces determined to stifle all dissent in Amerikka are ready to unleash the next nefarious step: some lackey of George W. Bush with not a shred of respect for or understanding of the U.S. Constitution wants to censor those who disagree with him, enforce "standards for political discourse," and establish a rating system (I'm not making this up) for political speech. The nerve of these facist neo-con Republicans!

Oh, wait … I was a bit confused. It's not a lackey of George W. Bush, it's a lackey of Hillary Rodham Clinton: namely, the Butcher of Bosnia and one-time weird presidential candidate, Gen. Wesley Clark. Allahpundit has the video, and McQ has the transcript highlights.

I've said it before: it's getting harder and harder to satirize the left these days. Scott Ott at ScrappleFace still does a great job, but just look how quickly reality caught up with Ott's satire from this past Monday (emphasis added):

Phony Vets for Truth, an non-profit group comprised of ex-military personnel who have publicly and deceptively disparaged the United States, the president or fellow U.S. troops in time of war, applauded “Sen. Reid’s bravery, and his appropriate use of senate debate time to discuss Mr. Limbaugh’s scurrilous remarks.”

In a statement completely independent of the Democrat National Committee, Phony Vets for Truth, a non-partisan think tank, also said: “When private citizens start to believe that they can say whatever they want without being subject to the normal democratic process of selective sound-bite editing, and selective outrage, then it’s time for Congress to take action.”

Obviously, just two days later, Wes Clark was speaking on behalf of Phony Vets for Truth. 

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Venezuela descends into darkness

Posted by Richard on May 27, 2007

Hugo Chavez has taken another big step toward turning Venezuela into a commie police state. He's shut down the most popular television station in the country (with a 40% market share), Radio Caracas Television, for being openly critical of his increasingly vicious and dictatorial regime. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have rallied in protest, but Chavez is sending tanks and troops against them.

Publius Pundit has lots of info, links, and pictures — including many pictures of lovely Venezuelan protest babes, in the Publius Pundit tradition, which would be a lot more enjoyable if the news were less grim. Warning: the page is slow to load due to the many pictures. But it's worth it. There's a roundup of editorial reaction around the world (with links), which noted that condemnation of Chavez spanned the political spectrum — even the ultra-lefty Le Monde condemned Chavez.

Gateway Pundit has later info, including pictures of government troops using water cannons and tear gas on the demonstrators.

Free RCTV has a chilling short film by journalists concerned about freedom of expression. It includes footage of Chavez that reveals him as a cross between Castro, Stalin, and the homeless raving lunatic you cross the street to avoid.

Visit Free RCTV (a project of the Human Rights Foundation) and send a protest letter to the Venezuelan embassy. You can edit the proposed content, and I suggest you do so. For instance, change "my concern" to "my outrage." Click the logo below.

Free RCTV: Say No to Censorship!

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Speaking hatefully is now a crime

Posted by Richard on May 25, 2007

Speaking of slippery slopes, remember when the concept of "hate crimes" first developed? The idea was to add extra punishment to already criminal behavior if it was motivated by hatred of a protected group (generally race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation). I've never liked the idea. If someone beats you up because they don't like your skin color or ability to accessorize, why is that somehow worse than if they beat you up because they don't like skinny people, or people who wear black, or people who don't look at them the right way?

Now, there's an even bigger problem with the concept of "hate crime." It used to require both elements — hate and a crime. But now, the expression of hatred itself has become a crime, and the First Amendment be damned:

WOODSTOCK, Ill. – A pair of 16-year-old girls face hate crime charges after they allegedly handed out anti-gay fliers targeting a classmate at their northern Illinois high school.

The girls were arrested May 11 after handing out fliers in the parking lot of Crystal Lake South High School that depict a male student kissing another boy and contain hateful language about gays.

Officials say the fliers targeted a male classmate, who is also a neighbor of the girls. The two girls had apparently been feuding with the boy.

Earlier today, a judge rejected bond for one of the girls, citing her home environment and already lengthy juvenile record – 13 run-ins with the cops. Instead of home detention, the girl will be held at the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center while the case is pending, according to the Daily Herald.

The first girl is a pretty unsympathetic defendant:

Earlier today, a judge rejected bond for one of the girls, citing her home environment and already lengthy juvenile record – 13 run-ins with the cops. Instead of home detention, the girl will be held at the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center while the case is pending, according to the Daily Herald.

But, damn! Jailed without bond for using "hateful language"? For handing out fliers?

They warned me that if I voted for Bush, America would become a police state. Looks like they were right.

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