scaramouche

...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

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User: scaramouche
Irreverent, contrarian, delighted to be out of synch with the zeitgeist, I depend on my sense of humour (such as it is) to keep me sane in this wacky world.

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Thursday, 22 October 2009

Iggy before and after: When Mark Steyn appeared before a parliamentary committee looking into Section 13, the “hate speech”/censorship component of Canada’s Human Rights Act, he quoted this thrilling statement about free speech.
Collective rights without individual ones end up in tyranny. Moreover, rights inflation--the tendency to define anything desirable as a right--ends up eroding the legitimacy of a defensible core of rights.

The right to freedom of speech is not, as the Marxist tradition maintained, a lapidary bourgeois luxury, but the precondition for having any other rights at all...

What made these words even more thrilling is that they were written by Michael Ignatieff back in the days when he was an intellectual gadfly and author of profound books. Those days are long gone, of course, and the Iggy of today, the Iggy who helms the Liberal Party of Canada, the Iggy who’s looking to amass all the votes he can so he can throw the Harper Tories out of office and return the country to its default setting--that Iggy would never dare say anything so bold, so bald, so “out there”. That Iggy, would think, and hem, and haw, and hesitate before he spoke. Would temper his words to suit the temper of the times. Would be far more “gentle” and far less assertive. Would, in fact, write this:
…All legislation that seeks to protect human rights must seek balance between competing rights, like freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

While we recognize that s. 13, as it is, may not strike the perfect balance, we do not believe that scrapping it entirely is the way to make a positive change. We do believe that we must continue to look into the right way to strike that balance and will continue to study this act…

The word that should--and does--set off alarm bells is “balance”. Anytime anyone uses the word “balance” in a discussion about free speech, you can be certain that that person has already made up his/her mind that free speech is far less important than keeping certain people--leftists, Muslims, members of other “victim groups,” etc.--happy.
It got me to thinking about the weird alchemy that had taken place in the mind of Michael Ignatieff such that b.L.l., before Liberal leadership, he was an unequivocal advocate of free speech and a.L.l., after Liberal leadership, he turned into such a mealy-mouthed "balancer". And then I thought: what if I revised the words of some other famous men on that basis? And so I did:
Jesus b.L.l.: The truth shall set you free.
Jesus a.L.l.: The truth shall set you free--except at a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearing, where the truth is no defence, and you’re usually guilty before you even step through the door.
 
Patrick Henry b.L.l.: Give me liberty or give me death.
Patrick Henry a.L.l.: Give me liberty--or give me liberty “balanced” with taxation sans representation.
 
Winston Churchill b.L.l.: When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber
Winston Churchill a.L.l.: When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to
jabber--but we welcome the voices of “diverse” fowl here in our multicultural aviary.
 
William Shakespeare b.L.l.: Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.
William Shakespeare a.L.l.: Cowards die many times before their deaths; There’s always room for them in the Liberal party.
 
George Washington b.L.l.: If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington a.L.l.: If the freedom of speech is taken away, it’s no biggie.
 
Salman Rushdie b.L.l.: Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.
Salman Rushdie a.L.l.: Free speech isn’t the whole thing, the whole ball game. “Feelings” are.
 
Dionysius of Halicarnassus b.L.l.: Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus a.L.l.: Be silent.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:28 | link | comments (2)


Comments:
#1  23 October 2009 - 01:43
 
 All legislation that seeks to protect human rights must seek balance between competing rights, like freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Freedom of speech and religion are competing rights? How so, Iggster? That in your quest to become PM by any means possible you're willing to limit valid criticism of Islam by the kuffir if that means you can get the jihadi vote in the next election?

Anonymous
#2  23 October 2009 - 04:04
 
Very entertaining post Scar, and informative too. Thanks.

Gijses

PS: This is my proof  name I am human and not computer.
Anonymous
Comments: