Archive for the 'Free speech' Category
Bookworm on Mar 11 2010 | Filed under: Free speech, Unions
Here’s a list of the biggest spenders in California politics for the past decade: These 15 groups spent more than a combined $1 billion over the past 10 years to influence public policy: – California Teachers Association: $211.8 million – California State Council of Service Employees: $107.4 million – Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: [...]
Bookworm on Feb 04 2010 | Filed under: Education, Free speech, Jihad
I’m working on a post, but thought you all would find this interesting in the meantime: From AJ Strata, something that’s not just interesting, but is also terrifying: the terrorists are out there and, having gotten the measure of our new president and his administration, they are massing for war. If you needed a reminder [...]
Bookworm on Dec 19 2009 | Filed under: Free speech
Alan Grayson, last heard of when he accused Republicans of backing a health care plan that told sick people to die, is at it again: Not everyone thinks imitation is the best form of flattery. In fact, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando took such offense at a parody website aimed at unseating him that [...]
Bookworm on Oct 26 2009 | Filed under: Free speech, Gay marriage, GBLT, Government
You remember Prop. 8, don’t you? That was the successful California ballot initiative that said that, in America, marriage is between a man and a woman. Immediately after November 4, gay rights activists sued. So far, the courts are being helpful. A court in the Northern District of California just ordered the Prop. 8 backers [...]
Bookworm on Oct 23 2009 | Filed under: Free speech, Government, Media matters
Twenty-four hours after the fact, the AP finally figured out that, maybe, just maybe, it’s worth reporting that the White House tried to freeze out a news organization that challenges it, and was stopped only because other news organizations realized that, if they let this one pass, they would forever be barred from voicing any [...]
Bookworm on Sep 20 2009 | Filed under: Britain, England, Free speech, Islam
All of us have been worried that the Obama Administration, working in tandem with a wildly Democratic Congress, wants to clamp down on freedom of speech. Heck, in true Orwellian fashion, the House of Representatives has already taken myriad terms off the table for fear that they might be used against their Fearless (albeit whiny) [...]
Bookworm on Aug 28 2009 | Filed under: Free speech
This is an interesting video, in which a police officer tells a protester to remove his anti-ObamaCare sign from public school property. A “helpful” bystander explains that the Supreme Court has barred this type of speech. Frankly, without doing even minimal research, I do not know what the rules are for protest when you’re on [...]
Bookworm on Aug 07 2009 | Filed under: Free speech, Health
For the eight years of the Bush presidency, we saw almost non-stop protests. These protests were characterized by speakers being shouted down; fake blood; fake waterboarding; crude, obscene and violent picket signs, etc. Not the American way we said. Freedom of speech is one thing. Ugly, violent, obscene speech is something else. We need to [...]
Bookworm on Aug 06 2009 | Filed under: Barack Obama, Free speech
A few days ago, I quoted from some representatives saying that those attending town halls are an ill-informed mob that must be ignored. The editors at National Review nicely sum up the Democratic party attitude and its profoundly anti-democratic meaning (links omitted): President Obama likes to pose as the tribune of the common people, but [...]
Bookworm on Jul 24 2009 | Filed under: Democrats, Free speech
Orwell understood the totalitarian mindset. That’s why he invented Newspeak, a language with the specific goal of making anti-governmental thought impossible. The Wikipedia article on the subject sums it up nicely: Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell‘s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, it is described as being “the only language in the [...]
Bookworm on May 28 2009 | Filed under: Free speech, Judges
Sotomayor’s statements about judges (better if they’re female and minority) and their role (to make policy) have been disturbing. It’s worth nothing though that, as James Taranto points out that, on at least one occasion Sotomayor came out strongly in favor of free speech, even though it was very ugly speech: Sotomayor Plays Against Type [...]
Bookworm on Feb 12 2009 | Filed under: Britain, Free speech
The Brits turned Geert Wilders back at the border for daring to try to enter the country to show an anti-Islamic film. Wilders isn’t too pure himself, since he advocates muzzling Islam, which just goes to show that Europeans fundamentally fail to understand free speech. (England once understood it, but a combination of leftism and [...]
Bookworm on Nov 21 2008 | Filed under: Abortion, Barack Obama, Free speech, Judges, Judicial activism
Okay, I admit it. I’m easy. Call me “winsome” and write a thoughtful, well-informed, interesting article about the continuing resonance abortion has on the political process — even if it did not serve as the centerpiece of this last political campaign — and of course I’m going to link to the article. In this case, [...]
Bookworm on Nov 09 2008 | Filed under: Free speech, Media matters
As you are, I’m worried about an all Democratic D.C. passing a new “Fairness” Doctrine. I have an idea: if Democrats are worried that liberals aren’t getting their message out over the radio airwaves, why don’t they use taxpayer dollars to fund a station devoted to Democratic messages, and one that has a TV and [...]
Bookworm on Oct 14 2008 | Filed under: Free speech, Leftist morality
As I do, my in-laws, all of whom are McCain supporters, live in a liberal community. They periodically get together with their conservative friends and bemoan the fact that lawn signs are stolen or despoiled, or that cars bearing McCain-Palin bumperstickers are targets of vandalism (keying, smashed windows, etc.). Along with the rest of us, [...]
Bookworm on Oct 01 2008 | Filed under: Barack Obama, Free speech
A righteous Andrew McCarthey puts together in a single place what astute observers have long known: Obama is an active enemy of Free Speech. Using tried and true Leftist tactics, including coopting sympathetic officials in the current administration, Obama and his team are doing everything they can to stifle speech. It’s just the beginning of [...]
Bookworm on Sep 27 2008 | Filed under: Barack Obama, Free speech
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” — Harry Truman. If you can’t stand the heat, get goons to frighten your opponents — and in Missouri, this means rounding up Democratic government prosecutors and officials to threaten people with prosecution for political speech.
Bookworm on Sep 26 2008 | Filed under: Barack Obama, Free speech
Being a circumlocutious type myself, I’m not normally a fan of Glenn Reynold’s bullet point approach to sharing information. Nevertheless, it makes a powerful point in his post setting out an ever expanding laundry list of the efforts the Obama campaign is making to stifle open political debate. What’s really scary is that this list [...]
Bookworm on Aug 05 2008 | Filed under: Free speech
One of the common responses to my post urging hidden conservatives to come out into the open in this election, if not to their friends and neighbors, at least to their fellow Republicans was that the situation can’t really be that bad. The Left isn’t any more snarky and snarly than the Right, and you [...]
Don Quixote on Jul 13 2008 | Filed under: Free speech, Political correctness
First, thanks to all of you who have posted such interesting, informative and intelligent comments the past two weeks. You always make my time here enjoyable and educational. Still, I’m glad Bookworm is back and ready to bring you her wide diversity of posts, and her thoughtfullness and intelligence that make the Bookwormroom such a [...]
Bookworm on Jun 16 2008 | Filed under: Free speech, Media matters
One of the things I’ve always admired about Harry Truman is the fact that he was able to separate principles from personal preferences. He was a racist who integrated the American military and an antisemite who was among the first to recognize the State of Israel. I keep thinking of Truman when I see the [...]
Bookworm on Jun 12 2008 | Filed under: Anti-Americanism, Education, Free speech
I just attended the end of year program at my children’s elementary school. I won’t run on here about how adorable my children were or how charming the other children ewre (accept that as given). Instead, I want to focus on the show’s content, which I found both fascinating and depressing. A little background first: [...]
Bookworm on Jun 03 2008 | Filed under: Education, France, Free speech
. . . but this is sad: Brigitte Bardot was convicted Tuesday of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying France. A Paris court also handed down a $23,325 fine against the former screen siren and animal rights campaigner. The court also ordered Bardot to pay $1,555 in damages to MRAP. [...]
Bookworm on May 20 2008 | Filed under: Britain, England, Free speech
Americans do not have any idea how lucky they are to live in a land where freedom of speech is enshrined in the Constitution. More than that, they should resist every “soft” effort to make speech out of bounds on the grounds that it can hurt someone’s feelings. Absent this constant vigilance to protect our [...]
Bookworm on Mar 31 2008 | Filed under: Free speech, Islam, Muslim violence
Do you recall that, on the day I posted the Fitna video, I wrote the following? LiveLeak explains why it is showing this video, despite the fact that some at LiveLeak strongly disagree with its content. I note two things. First, LiveLeak understands free speech. Second, the LifeLeak discussion about its decision to show the [...]
