We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in England ( here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). England is now a tragic example of how speech regulation and criminalization becomes insatiable — producing a down spiral as more and more speech is found intolerable or criminal. The most recent example is the call to ban Donald Trump from entry into the United Kingdom as someone guilty of hate speech. While I have criticized Trump’s statements about barring Muslims from entering the country, he is entitled to voice his views on immigration and participate in a debate about how we are going to handle both immigration and national security concerns. The chilling thing about this debate in Parliament is not that it will succeed in barring Trump but that it would not be in any way out of order with prior content-based sanctions.
Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws. We have seen comedians targeted with such court orders under this expanding and worrisome trend. (here and here).
Now even debating the risks of Muslim immigration as a policy is deemed hate speech and sanctionable by many. A far more useful debate on January 18th in Parliament is to look at the rapid decline of free speech in England. It is of course not alone. We have seen politicians like Dutch politician Geert Wilders prosecuted over what should clearly be protected speech. England has blocked Wilders and even speakers like Michael Savage based on disagreements with what they believe and say. Likewise, in France, Marine LePen is under investigation for speaking her mind on immigration.
What is truly distressing is that this petition was started by someone described as a “journalist.” Suzanne Kelly celebrated the news that someone with whom she disagrees could now be barred from entering the country: “However the debate goes, this exercise has brought many people together to speak out against hate speech and prejudice. That is my reward, and one I’m very happy and moved by.” It is a curious reward for a “journalist” to rally a mob against unpopular speakers and seek to impose content-based speech controls.
Kelly appears the very personification of the problem of the addictive aspect of speech controls. Kelly, a contributing writer for the community website Aberdeen Voice, said “The more I looked at Donald Trump and the remarks he has made before entering the presidential race, the more my hackles were rising . . . There are few things a person in my position can do against a person like that but make use of this country’s wonderful laws and procedures.” Those “wonderful” laws involve punishing people with whom you disagree. Time will only tell is speech in the future by Kelly get the “hackles” up of others — who will call for her own silencing or sanctioning. Movements for ensorship and speech controls tend to be like Saturn and devour their own.
Thus, we will watch on January 18th as free people rally around the concept of less freedom — calling for their government to curtail the freedom of everyone in order to silence those with whom they disagree. There is of course an alternative. Kelly could use that journalist identity and actually respond to Trump and his ideas. Now that is a novel concept.
Source: Time
This post, and the Merkel post, are the main reason I came to this blog. Free speech is a basic human right. Elitists are trying to control speech. There will be blood!
God bless Benny Hill. And god blessed us with Jane Leeves.
UK needs to do an IQ test, Benny Hill style.
Trump DID NOT say bar Muslims from entering the country. He said stop them TEMPORARILY until we know what the hell is going on.
Tired of Liberals always spinning what he says to fit their agenda. I happen to agree with Trump. Keep the Muslims out until we figure out who is who because you can’t them apart.
So Trump saying US should ban all Muslims from entering the country is fine, but Brits saying ban Trump is a threat to free speech?
Trump is a comedic genius and his show should be welcomed by GB. It’s a free show after all. Just a couple morsels of his skit:
“You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
“If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?”
“When a man leaves a woman, especially when it was perceived that he has left for a piece of ass — a good one! — there are 50 percent of the population who will love the woman who was left.”
“I am being proven right about massive vaccinations—the doctors lied. Save our children & their future … Tiny children are not horses.”
Talk about a laugh a minute. And for free!
So lighten up Brits. Right? Right? Brits are a bunch of losers. They lost America and now they are losing their sense of humor. Am I right?…………
This cannot be possible. isaac has assured us that our western “advanced” cultures have evolved away from such thinking. This rollback is not progress but a regression in our civilized cultures. At this rate we will need an entirely new age of enlightenment.
Brits find it difficult to understand how USAmericans, their own national :”offspring”, can be so extremely ignorant of language, international affairs, the proper way to do things. They feel that they failed as “parents”. Their US “offspring” are vagabond deliquent gang members who embarass the British public when anyone mentions the close association.
UK? Here’s Prince Harry partying and wearing the Nazi uniform.
Amazing! With all the problems the UK is facing, the Parliament is going to debate Dinald Trump. Leaders the world over are consumed by trivialities. While the Saudis murder people for their views and the sectarian wars continue to contribute to a steady stream of angry young Muslim men in to Europe, the Parliament will debate Dinald Trump. Of course resolving these problems would take work so it’s better to debate Donald Trump! The bankers of terrorism come and go in England buying up entire neighborhoods but never mind Donald Trump is the problem?
They can try to keep him out but it is not going to look good if he is elected.
US Code 1182, Inadmissible Aliens.
This law was written in 1952. It was passed by a Democrat-controlled Congress, House and Senate, and signed by a Democrat president.
“Suspension of entry or imposition of restrictions by president. Whenever the president finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, the president may, by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”
All of the pundits that are claiming that what Trump said is dumb, stupid, reckless, dangerous, and/or unconstitutional, need to educate themselves. It is already the law of the land. And it was utilized by Jimmy Carter, no less, in 1979 to keep Iranians out of the United States, but he actually did more. He made all Iranian students already here check in, and then he deported a bunch. Seven thousand were found in violation of their visas, 15,000 Iranians were forced to leave the United States, 1979.
They better not rile him. He might buy the place, turn it into his English country home, and only allow his supporters to visit – ‘losers, take their coats!’.
This is one of the reasons our constitution prohibits bills of attainder.
Curley from the Three Stooges: Hotsie Totsie, I smell a Nazi!
Turnabout upon Redcoats is fair play. We need to start compiling a itShay list of Brits who support this move to ban Trump. Then, when Trump is in office here, ban all those Brits on the itShay list from coming to America. I would include all those in Parliament who do not voice opposition to such Nazi movements in Britain.
It will be especially interesting if Trump is elected President….will the U.K. forbid a sitting American President from entering its country? Will the U.K. cut diplomatic relations with the U.S.? I can’t imagine they would do so, as our supposedly closest ally. Trump would likely be more welcome in Cologne, Germany. He could go there and laugh at Ms Merkel and say, “Ha, ha, I told you so!” I’m sure the citizens of Cologne would agree with him, even as the politicians fumed.
Reblogged this on Scoop Feed.
In the UK if 100k people sign a petition for a topic to be be discussed parliament then it must be brought up for discussion I am not really sure why this is so surprising. Think about how easy it would be to get 100 thousand people sign this.. After the high population of Muslims, the liberals and the social media tag alongers 100 thousand is not that difficult.
JT..again where is the line between yelling fire in a theater and being a major player in US politics going to England with flammatory speach…that which probably will spark or stoke the fire in that country? They have every right to say no to an entry onto to their sovereign soil…into their home(land)..
JT So what about free speech. Any way you can keep Trump out of a more evolved society, the better. If only we could keep him out of the US.