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
Issac….do christian fundamentalists really give us the same result? Do they kill their own who dont comply? Strangers who dont convert? Thing is if you are right then there should never be another muslim attack on us soil. The muslims here should be narking on every extremist….because their neck will be next for becoming “secularized”…. But they seem content us spending our blood and treasure …. Seems to me they are sandbagging. And if they were all in on helping america the fbi would make some public heroes…to win over even more converts to “secularism”. But that rarely happens. The absence of which convinces me of two propisition choices….muslims arent really “with us” or there is little threat. We know there is grave threat….yet why no muslim super heros hailed for saving the day? Where is their see something say something?
Btw taking pause and caution about muslums isnt “racism”….Brenannan us one. But he’s an american first and not raised in the lands of the swords.
The UK government is as pathetic as the German one. Why dont they try and keep out some crazy as molester refugees instead of Donald Trump? Almost all western governments are a total fraud.
John Smith; ” Almost all western governments are a total fraud.” I don’t know where you’re from but Amen to that. People are waking up but what do we do about it….? The level of filth in our so called ‘leaders’ is reaching epic proportions. How much more can we take?
Olly
Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, etc. Islam is so far in arrears it will take many such events to sort out the crazy. However, it seems that the majority of Muslims living in Western nations have tempered, just as Christians did. They keep their thoughts and beliefs to themselves and see them for what they are, lines that connect the dots. Talk to a Christian who believes that the bible is factual and you get the same experience. Secular does win out in secular nations. There will always be the ‘don’t tread on me’ types regardless of beliefs. Case in point, the Bundyists.
As the perpetrators of 9/11 are found out I am against the death sentence. Carrying out a death sentence is first degree murder.
The best way to bring this U.S. Israeli / Zionist Mafia down is to expose the Truth about 9/11. This will reach to the core of the evil.
Trump knows Israel did 9/11. If elected will Trump try the perpetrators?
‘William Kristol is terrified that Trump could try 9/11 perpetrators’
“William Kristol, who is one of the 9/11 perpetrators who is going to be tried, convicted and hanged for mass murder and high treason when this comes out,
is terrified that Trump might become president, because there is a chance that Trump might decide to clean house,” Dr. Kevin Barrett told Press TV on Sunday
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/27/443486/William-Kristol-Donald-Trump-911
http://buenavistamall.com/williamkristrol.jpg
To be fair, they’d only be giving him a dose of his own proposed medicine.
JimC -> My mother is in her late 70’s and has never ever voted Republican and voted for BO two terms. Last week she told she was voting for Trump.
I’m almost fell over in shock. She’s the old guard and not progressive like BO. She says BO has gone too far. She doesn’t like the race division, debt, and letting all these refugees in here, which she thinks we as a country can’t afford.
She said that’s why she’s voting for Donald Trump.
Jimmy Carter banned Iranians from entry, deported 15,000. In one of the comments above is a quotation of US law giving the President this option. Anybody thinking we shouldn’t do a better job of background checks before allowing people in our country should look at the San Bernardino holocaust (I use that word because these people were killed for being White!). This is not hate, this is intelligence. Not often used by liberals, sadly.
We wait for Europe to regain its senses.
Europe has a “leader” vacuum.
Nature abhors a vacuum.
One thing is for sure.
Europe and America are ripe and ready for a leader.
In this interview, Martin explains how and why he staged this magnificent intervention…which got a shockingly positive response from Trump, who said Martin “has a lot of energy, he’s a Trump guy, he’s on our side.”
“If pointing out that Zionists not Muslims did 9/11 makes you “a Trump guy” and puts you on Trump’s side…well, maybe I have misunderestimated Trump.”
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/12/29/911trumpguy/
Trump knows Israel did 9/11
TRUTH JIHAD: Here’s how I disrupted Trump’s speech with ISRAEL DID 9/11!
Did Martin Hill EDUCATE Donald Trump? Or does Trump already know?
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/12/29/911trumpguy
https://youtu.be/jVn75Fgbl9w
Isaac,
I believe Muslims will need to find their own Martin Luther if they are to ever convince non-Muslim cultures they can be compatible. Currently the image of Islam is identified with the extreme ideology the western world wants no part of. This image is the responsibility of those within the faith. If they want to be included as an equal partner in the worldwide community then it will be up to them to eliminate the extreme ideology.
Donald Trump’s viewpoint taken from a Facebook post. (Edited for brevity’s sake.) Go to the link for a more complete representation.) https://www.facebook.com/tom.novak.35/posts/1049490245062636
1.) Trump believes that America should not intervene militarily in other country’s problems without being compensated for doing so. If America is going to risk the lives of our soldiers and incur the expense of going to war, then the nations we help must be willing to pay for our help. Using the Iraq War as an example, he cites the huge monetary expense to American taxpayers (over $1.5 trillion, and possibly much more depending on what sources are used to determine the cost) in addition to the cost in human life.
2.) Trump wants America to have a strong military again. He believes the single most important function of the federal government is national defense.
3.) Trump wants a strong foreign policy and believes that it must include 7 core principles (which seem to support my comment in the last point):
American interests come first. Always. No apologies.
Maximum firepower and military preparedness.
Only go to war to win.
Stay loyal to your friends and suspicious of your enemies.
Keep the technological sword razor sharp.
See the unseen. Prepare for threats before they materialize.
Respect and support our present and past warriors.
4.) Trump believes that terrorists who are captured should be treated as military combatants, not as criminals like the Obama administration treats them.
5.) Trump makes the point that China’s manipulation of their currency has given them unfair advantage in our trade dealings with them. He says we must tax their imports to offset their currency manipulation, which will cause American companies to be competitive again and drive manufacturing back to America and create jobs here. Ford is building a plant in Mexico and Trump suggests that every part or vehicle Ford makes in Mexico be taxed 35% if they want to bring it into the U. S., which would cause companies like Ford to no longer be competitive using their Mexican operations and move manufacturing back to the U. S., once again creating jobs here.
6.) Trump wants passage of NOPEC legislation (No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act – NOPEC – S.394), which would allow the government to sue OPEC for violating antitrust laws. According to Trump, that would break up the cartel. He also wants to unleash our energy companies to drill domestically (sound like Sarah Palin’s drill baby, drill?) thereby increasing domestic production creating jobs and driving domestic costs of oil and gas down while reducing dependence on foreign oil.
7.) Trump believes a secure border is critical for both security and prosperity in America. He wants to build a wall to stop illegals from entering put controls on immigration. He also wants to enforce our immigration laws and provide no path to citizenship for illegals.
8.) Trump wants a radical change to the tax system to not only make it better for average Americans, but also to encourage businesses to stay here and foreign businesses to move here. The resulting influx of money to our nation would do wonders for our economy. He wants to make America the place to do business. He also wants to lower the death tax and the taxes on capital gains and dividends. This would put more than $1.6 trillion back into the economy and help rebuild the 1.5 million jobs we’ve lost to the current tax system. He also wants to charge companies who outsource jobs overseas a 20% tax, but for those willing to move jobs back to America they would not be taxed. He wants to change the personal income tax to:
Up to $30,000 taxed at 1%
From $30,000 to $100,000 taxed at 5%
From $100,000 to $1,000,000 taxed at 10%
$1,000,000 and above taxed at 15%
9.) Trump wants Obamacare repealed. He says it’s a “job-killing, health care-destroying monstrosity” that “can’t be reformed, salvaged, or fixed.” He believes in allowing real competition in the health insurance marketplace to allow competition to drive prices down. He also believes in tort reform to get rid of defensive medicine and lower costs.
10.) Trump wants spending reforms in Washington, acknowledging that America spends far more than it receives in revenue. He has said he believes that if we don’t stop increasing the national debt once it hits $24 trillion it will be impossible to save this country. Even though he says we need to cut spending, he does not want to harm those on Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security.
11.) Even though he says we need to cut spending, he does not want to harm those on Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. He believes that the citizens have faithfully paid in to the system to have these services available and that the American government has an obligation to fulfill its end of the bargain and provide those benefits. Therefore, he wants to build the economy up so that we have the revenue to pay those costs without cutting the benefits to the recipients. safety net, not a hammock.” He believes in a welfare to work program that would help reduce the welfare roles and encourage people to get back to work. And he wants a crackdown on entitlement fraud.
13.) Trump believes climate change is a hoax.
14.) Trump opposes Common Core.
15.) Trump is pro-life, although he allows for an exception due to rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
16.) Trump is pro 2nd Amendment rights.
17.) Trump’s view on same-sex marriage is that marriage is between a man and a woman, but he also believes that this is a states’ rights issue, not a federal issue.
18.) Trump supports the death penalty.
If you Americans do not get some veteranarians to vet the muslims who come into your borders then you are dumb.
At the moment, 20% of registered Democrats say they will vote for Trump.
All assumptions, please double-check..
Bar Donald Trump you say? His popularity has undoubtedly shot up as a direct result of just the thought. Poor Globalist pawns; violence, suppression, blackmail, and fakery are their only tools and they just aren’t working like they used to. These people need treatment.
Olly
The extremes practiced on humanity by ISIS and Saudi Arabia for example. These extremes are luckily absent in their ‘equal and opposite reactions’; thank goodness we exist around the center. For a preview of the opposite extreme, one can pay attention to guys like Trump and how well they are received by some. I put my faith in the sanity that does exist in Western culture, which is compatible with Islam, as long as Islam wishes to be compatible with the Western world and not attempt to override Western culture. How Western culture will change will be a result of democratic perusing of what Islam has to offer. Thus far there are many worthwhile reinforcing elements in Islam and many that simply have to be exorcised.
In this Western world Islamic women must be supported if they wish to change those parts of Islam that subjugates them, if indeed they consider themselves subjugated. There are may other elements of Islam that will change but it will be through everything from social and family tug of wars to scenarios demanding the involvement of Western laws. When an Islamic fanatic slaughters his daughter or sister because of something they believe they are less religious fanatics and more correctly simply fu*^ing crazy. The West is the place to take the crazy and thuggery out of religion, all religions. Thus far it has largely succeeded with Christianity. The West has a proven track record with religion. The East does not. Perhaps the cleansing of Islam is next. As it stands Islam can be as vile as Christianity once was. Islam can also be as nurturing as Christianity can be.
Or we can elect the Donald and takes our chances. C’mon we’re not that screwed up, are we?
What “current insanity” Isaac?