Ezra's rant on the issue can be found here. Compare it to the Imam's statement in the Post. The Imam is a class act; Ezra a no-class ass.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Complaints Dropped Against Ezra
And Ezra, sensing a return to obscurity and darkness , decides to sue. Start flipping those burgers Ezra, or maybe learn to sing & dance & juggle a bit and see how far youtube can take you.
Ezra's rant on the issue can be found here. Compare it to the Imam's statement in the Post. The Imam is a class act; Ezra a no-class ass.
Ezra's rant on the issue can be found here. Compare it to the Imam's statement in the Post. The Imam is a class act; Ezra a no-class ass.
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Dear BCL Readers:
Noam Chomsky was asked about the HRC witchhunt of Levant and Steyn:
"A number of prominent right-wing Canadian authors are before my country’s various human rights tribunals and human rights commissions. One of those authors is Ezra Levant, who is charged with publishing the “Muhammad Cartoons”. The other is Mark Steyn, charged with a number of offenses amongst them quoting a European Imam on demographic predictions.
What is your opinion on these Human Rights Commissions and other government restrictions on “hate speech”? Are you generally supportive of these types of measures, or do you oppose them?"
Noam Chomsky's answer:
"There should be a very heavy burden of proof on any effort to restrict freedom of speech. I strongly oppose the measures you describe. I do not think the burden of proof is even approached, let alone met. In this respect I agree with the US Supreme Court, which, in the 1960s, set what i think is a proper standard for protection of freedom of speech."
H/T - Dime a Dozen
And what, exactly, is your point anon? A lot of us expressed those very opinions.
It is clear from reading that Ezra is spoiling for a fight even when there isn't one.
Ten's of Thousands defend this? Bullshit. It cost nothing to appear before the investigator that Levant didn't voluntarily incur - it could have cost him the price of a registered letter.
The editor of the Jewish Free Press acted correctly, as can be evidenced by the Imma's statements.
Mike,
My point is simply first, that Chomsky's point of view on any matter is important because it's always well considered, whether or not you ultimately agree with him. Secondly, it's important to note that this issue isn't about Ezra Levant but about what kind of society we want to live in. Free speech, with the traditonal common law caveats like defamation etc..., is one of things that make Canada and the Western democracies such great places to live and I don't think we should ever take that for granted.
I thought Ezra spoke well before the tribunal. He's come off badly, personality-wise, but that's a different issue. I think any blogger is a little disingenous accusing another of attention-seeking and attempting to "raise one's profile..."
We all want folks to come and see what we have to say. Levant is no different. He's made something of his moment.
Johnny,
There is some truth to that. If I am called before any tribunal I will appear naked and dance for them. When it appears on youtube, I will be famous like Ezra.
Free speech, with the traditonal common law caveats like defamation etc..., is one of things that make Canada and the Western democracies such great places to live and I don't think we should ever take that for granted.
The only people who take it for granted are the free speech warriors who, in one breath smear and vilify Noam Chomsky and in another, praise him for his very consistent stand on freedom of expression (he won't even sue people who've libeled him). And then there are the proto-fascists and the neo-nazis...
Ezra pretended he was dragged in front of the commission against his will, practically begged them to convict him, and then violated an instruction to not post his recording (an act for which there will be no repercussions). He wanted to be made into a martyr, instead he was given a fair hearing. Some Stalinist "star chamber"....
As for his grandstanding, there was no need to make those points while being interviewed at the office. He could have posted his comments to his blog or in a letter to the editor rather than wasting the time of a low-level civil servant.
If a court finds that Ezra is abusing process, then there will be grounds for a counter claim.
Frankly I don't blame him.
The Imam is a class act? You are warped.
I'd say the imam is anything but a class act. Class idiot maybe. I knew the charges would never stick. Now can we put this pathetic episode to bed? [Well, I guess not if Ezra is suing]
Ti-guy says "And then there are the proto-fascists and the neo-nazis..." I would add and today's Left. No one takes free speech for granted like they do. But then again they and the fascists have a lot in common. Reviewing Jonah Goldberg's book "Liberal Fascism", Thomas Sowell writes:
"If by conservatism you mean belief in free markets, limited government, and traditional morality, including religious influences, then these are all things that the Fascists opposed just as much as the Left does today."
The left and fascism go back a long, long way. Hence the explanation for their common disdain for dissent.
BCL - I would hope that this is your last post on Ezra Levant. You're flogging a dead horse and hurting your credibility.
1. The complaint has been with withdrawn.
2. Defending Imans in their anti-democratic crusades is backing the wrong horse, to put in mildly.
3. Noam Chomsky has said that he strongly opposes stifling Steyn and Levant.
4. It is confirming Jonah Golberg's thesis that the Left are the heirs of the facists and indulge in fascistic behavior.
A 400+ Billion dollar budget to maintain the largest, most global military force in the history of the world, responsible for more than 100 armed interventions in sovereign countries and all the resulting dead - that's the "limited government" and "traditional morality", Sowell's talking about, eh, Andy?
Andrew, I am going to write 12 more just for you.
The Imam is a pussy cat. And he has talked about his deep love for Calgary and Canada on any number of occasions. Never heard anything about a love for Canada out of Ezra.
Lenny, and the one that probably sticks in your craw the most is when the U.S. intervened in European War theater after having remained neutral for a few years. The one that helped or resulted in the defeat of the fascist Adolf Hitler.
The U.S. helped stop Hitler, Stalin's successors, and now is doing the same with the Islamists.
But better Red than dead, or better Dhimmi than dead, right Lenny?
BCL, it was a humble suggestion to change topics but it is your blog and if you want to keep at it it is of course your prerogative.
Heck, maybe Gayle will come by and prove that Noam Chomsky's reliance on U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence is erroneous. We know she has the ego for it.
A 400+ Billion dollar budget to maintain the largest, most global military force in the history of the world, responsible for more than 100 armed interventions in sovereign countries and all the resulting dead - that's the "limited government" and "traditional morality", Sowell's talking about, eh, Andy?
Let's not forget, huge public debt, domestic and foreign surveillance, "free speech zones," highest incarceration rate in the World, secret prisons, torture, disregard for the Generva conventions, gutting of the constitution, politicisation of the juidiciary, widespread electoral and government corruption...
Can't you just smell the freedom?
It's like Andrew isn't even conscious.
the iman is a pussycat, a class act?
the line between socialism and fascism is mighty thin, looks like these folks have jumped over it.
Ti-guy, for someone who said a few posts down that you are "not a fan of Chomsky", you sure as hell sound like him.
I see Kathy Shaidle wrote an article on the HRC, Levant and Steyn controvery in today's National Post. If they've replaced Kinsella with her, I'd say that's an improvement. Everything Kinsella does is to promote Kinsella. Shaidle's got principles. Hopefully this will be the first of many columns for her.
That's a lovely strawman you built, Andy.
Why don't you come back when you're learned a few things and are out of diapers.
http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ceh/report/english/prologue.html
Who could forget those, ti-guy. Traditional, moral, small government.
Paul Wells' blog today:
"In Denmark, three men are arrested and accused of plotting to murder a cartoonist. In response, several newspapers in Denmark and elsewhere reprint his cartoon."
Here we go again. The Muslims will go berserk again because westerners are indulging in a favorite pastime of the west: free speech.
Ti-guy, for someone who said a few posts down that you are "not a fan of Chomsky", you sure as hell sound like him.
Right...Because as we all know, Chomsky's the only one who says these things.
Are these rubes for real?
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