Update: I was LOOKING for this pic! Thanks to Brent at WeekendPundit (who also has a post on Political Correctness):
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The ‘Grok has always said that remedy for "bad" speech is MORE speech – not less. However, totalitarians through out the years have relied on tried and true technique:
Don’t argue with your opponent – silence them! Any way you can.
Early in the life of the ‘Grok, when people were unhappy with the content and told us to take it down, we told them "No – don’t like it? Get your own blog!" When we disagreed with other people, we didn’t tell them to shut up – we said "OK, let’s debate it – we’ll talk ALL DAY LONG".
Few ever took up the challenge.
On the Left, it seems that they way they wish to follow is that of the totalitarians – they do not wish to debate – they want to shut people up and will go to any length to do so. It can be simple encouragement or approval of such behavior (shutting down of debate) as Richard from NH Insider reminded me:
In their article "Open Thread: Comity Club Killer" they cheer on AL Franken for preventing Joe Lieberman from having 30 seconds more to finish reading a prepared statement about an amendment he was going to add to the health care bill.
…Open debate and listening to all sides clearly is not a democrat virtue.
So, is there outrage at applauding a Liberal silencing? Of course not. While it has turned out that it was Senator Reid that gave the orders to all "presiding officers" to limit speech to the normal 10 minutes and not Franken himself, it certainly looked like he was all full of himself with such a smirk as said "I object" to Liberman’s request for a little more time.
Then there’s US Congressman Alan Greyson (D-FL) (he of the phrase "The Republican Health Care Plan: Die Quickly. and "Cheney, STFU") who now wants to jail someone just for wanting him out of office (H/T to NewsBusters). After all, if he puts his opponent in jail, he:
- silences them
- ruins their life
- ruins their family
- sends a message of "don’t you dare speak out against me"
His complaint? After the jump (and a couple more stories of silencing of dissent)
So, what is Greyson whining about? Gee, somebody has the temerity to disagree with him, so HE decides to have the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, put someone in jail – for 5 years! For the grand sin of parodying his own site congressmanwithguts.com with mycongressmanisnuts.com. While the complete complaint is here, the relevant parts are here:
As explained below, Ms. Langley and the Committee falsely represented to the Federal Election Commission that the Committee "supports or opposes more than one candidate," In fact, however, the committee name corresponds to a website that attacks me. and only me, while soliciting contributions to be used against only me. Moreover, Ms. Langley has falsely depicted herself as a constituent, in order to further this scheme. Ms. Langley and the Committee thus have, "in a[] matter within the jurisdiction of the executive … branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully –
(1) falsifie[d], concealed], or cover[ed] up any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) ma[de] a[] materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; [and]
(3) ma[de] or use[d] a[] false writing or document knowing the same to contain a[] materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent entry."Wait. It gets better:
Ms. Langley has chosen a name for her committee that is utterly tasteless and juvenile. Of the thousands of campaign committees reporting to the FEC, I doubt that any other one sinks this low. But that is not the primary purpose of this complaint.
By choosing the name "My Congressman is Nuts’ for her committee, Ms. Langley is indicating that I am her Congressman. I am not her Congressman, and I have never been her Congressman. Ms. Langley resides at 969 W. Lakeshore Drive, Clermont, FL 34711 (Ex. A-2), This is many miles outside my district Ms. Langley lives within FL-5, not FL-8.
Ms. Langley has deliberately masqueraded as a constituent of mine, in order to try to create the false appearance that she speaks for constituents who don’t support me. This is fundamentally deceptive and fraudulent.
Can you believe this nonsense?
These matters were brought to Ms. Langley’s personal attention through complaint to the FEC weeks ago, but she and the Committee continue to solicit contributions fraudulently, and have stubbornly refused to return the contributions that they already have, received. Therefore, Ms. Langley and the Committee should be fined, and Ms. Langley imprisoned for five years.
John Stossel adds this (emphasis mine):
Poor Alan Grayson. Since the law school graduate must know something about freedom of speech, he must have been very wounded by Ms. Langely’s words to want to jail her for them.
Bullies like Congressman Grayson illustrate the danger of government power; government is the only entity that can legally use force. That makes government a fearsome master. It can use force to take our money, and homes, and our freedom.
Methinks the "Honorable" Mr. Greyson thinks much of himself. But he also proves my point – not debate but a complete silencing is what the desired endpoint. So, is there outrage at applauding a Liberal silencing? Of course not.
Then there is the sorry story of the Maine reporter that I first saw at Fox and again at GayPatriot (who had a few comments of his own):
Brooking No Dissent, HRC Gets Reporter Fired for Addressing Inconvenient Truth About Organization (in a private e-mail)
In a private e-mail to the Human Rights Campaign, a tired reporter in the Pine Tree State responded to their assertion that those who supported Question 1 on the state’s ballot month were haters, echoing something we have said on this blog.
“They said the Yes-on-1 people were haters. I’m a Christian. I take offense at that,” [Larry Grard, that aforementioned sleep-deprived journalist] said. “I e-mailed them back and said basically, ‘We’re not the ones doing the hating. You’re the ones doing the hating.’
He may have been weary, but he did have a point. A lot of the gay marriage activists have been doing a lot of hating.
Shortly after sending this e-mail, Grard, … was summoned to the office of Bill Thompson, editor of the Sentinel:
He was told that Trevor Thomas, deputy communications director of the Human Rights Campaign, had Googled his name, discovered he was a reporter, and was demanding Grard be fired. According to Grard, Thompson said, “There’s no wiggle room.”
He was immediately dismissed.
Wow, just wow. HRC gets an intemperate e-mail and instead of asking for an apology demands the writer be fired. And heck, the reporter didn’t even cover “the marriage issue or other gay-rights controversies for the Sentinel.” But, to HRC, if you don’t have the politically correct mind-set, well, then you shouldn’t have a job in journalism. Maybe it’s because of tactics like theirs that mainstream reporters don’t cover the hateful rhetoric spewing from some segments the gay left.
…Look, not all gay activists are haters, but there is a lot of hateful rhetoric on the gay left. We saw this last fall in the campaign against Prop 8 in the Golden State. And particularly in the aftermath of its passage.
Instead of firing journalists for mentioning this inconvenient truth in their private correspondence, maybe it’s time for editors to assign reporters to cover the hateful rhetoric of many (but fortunately not all) gay activists, their prejudiced attitudes toward conservatives and Christians and their reluctance to engage their opponents on the level of ideas rather than innuendo and insult.
The Prop 8 info is here. So, is there outrage at applauding a Liberal silencing? Of course not.
And this current story of Lutheran ministers being bullied for their adherence to traditional Biblical teachings on sexuality:
…The Rev. Mark Gehrke, of Faith Lutheran Church in Moline, Ill., said that "if you do not agree with the direction of the ELCA, you are … bullied or ostracized or threatened. The threat has been to even remove me and suspend me from ministry," he said.
In early September, he said, he was leading meetings and seeking ways to leave the ELCA. His bishop heard of this and sent a three-man team to addres
s the problem."They spent their first 10 to 12 minutes bashing me and the leadership," Mr. Gehrke said. "Quoting things out of context, just totally humiliating me in front of the entire congregation."
Mr. Gehrke said other pastors have been bullied into silence.
"In Illinois, I’m one of the only few pastors that have taken a stand," he said, noting there are others who are too frightened to openly criticize the denomination’s position on homosexuality.
"They are afraid for their jobs," he said. "They are afraid of standing against the church, the bishops."…
So, is there outrage at applauding a Liberal silencing? Of course not.
