Thursday, June 10, 2010

Israel: the Downside of Success

Don Surber points out that so-called Progressives once supported Israel:
There's more to the Helen Thomas case
Of course, 'progress' in an egg -- if allowed to go on too long -- is called 'going bad', and it stinks to high Heaven!

Free Speech: Use It or Lose It?

Free speech: use it or lose it!

One of many 'kicker' passages:
"...According to the Institute for Justice, 36 states have laws requiring citizen groups to register with the government before they can talk to their neighbors about politics. Duke University professor Mike Munger has described how such laws have a chilling effect on the political process.

"Similarly, it is the independent bloggers and journalists who will be stifled by the proposed DISCLOSE Act, not the entrenched mainstream media. But note how it was the blogging community, not the mainstream media, which took the lead in reporting stories such as the RatherGate scandal, the ClimateGate memos, and the rise of the tea parties.

"The numerous independent bloggers covering the ClimateGate disclosures provide a perfect example of how truth emerges when ordinary people are left free to debate and discuss contentious issues. If the bloggers who dissented from the government-backed climate science orthodoxy had instead been punished for spreading 'misinformation', would Americans have ever learned the truth?

"If bloggers, independent journalists, and ordinary thinking Americans value our free speech, then we must do the following:
"We must articulate and defend a proper definition of free speech and of censorship.
"We must defend free speech on the proper grounds of individual rights, rather than on utilitarian grounds that it promotes some 'social good'. This includes defending free speech in principle, even when some people express views we consider odious. For liberals, this includes defending speech they may find bigoted or offensive. For social conservatives, this includes defending speech promoting alternative lifestyles they may find morally repugnant.
"We must defend the principle of free speech not just in politics but throughout the full range of our culture — including science, art, and philosophy. We must defend the freedom of individuals to criticize another’s scientific or religious views as vigorously as their right to debate banking regulations.

"As President Ronald Reagan once warned:
"'Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free'..."
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