You know, sometimes big issues make very strange bedfellows.
For example, Israel being the new BFF of Saudi Arabia, united on the issue of not wanting a nuclear , genocidal, Shia, Iran.
That's quite odd and unprecedented, isn't it?
Did you ever think that you would find yourself thinking that Israel and Saudi Arabia as a united front against ANYTHING would be reasonable and commonly accepted wisdom? That a partnership so radical was actually conventional and sensible? Probably not.
With Mark Steyn versus Michael Mann, it is clear that this is another round, yet another front having opened up in the epic battle for free speech.
This is a continuation of the war that Steyn and Ezra Levant waged here (and won, for the most part) in Canada.
Due to a lack of a First Amendment, we here in Canada were stuck and being penalized and persecuted with the 'hate speech' nonesense (government trying to regulate emotion, and censor human thought, and criminalize thought). Section 13 is now dead here in Canada, although various lawfare cases are still carrying on, as usual.
The punishment, to paraphrase Mark Steyn himself, remains the process.
Mark Steyn is once again at the forefront of a battle that so few individuals and organization seem to really comprehend.
In a country as large as America, although it is a good sign-it is worrying and disheartening that only The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the ACLU and a consortium of 17 media organizations have filed amicus briefs about the Mann versus Steyn case, realizing what is at stake.
The real deniers, are the individuals and organizations that want to deny you the right to make up your own mind about issues. They want to deny you the freedom to speak your mind, and express your opinion-no matter how "scientifically verified" (snort) or hysterical it may be.
That is the point that needs to be made, and made more widely.
I suspect that NRO and Mark Steyn are limited in the scope of what they may publish on an active law suit.
But there are many other well-funded, respectable organizations and individuals that have skin in this game and it is incumbent upon them-web sites, private companies, think tanks, news organizations, academic institutions and others to forge liaisons on this issue and support this fight. Everyone has contacts, and everyone has politicians who represent them. The contacts must be made and the burden shared.
Even Happy Warriors tire. Even a Happy Warrior can have a war chest depleted.
That's what they want to happen, so don't let it happen.
Your freedom of expression is at stake, your liberty is really at stake.
The thought enforcers will never give you back the freedoms that they have taken.
This case is a microcosm of the fight to maintain the personal liberties that were brilliantly envisioned by the Framers and enshrined in the American constitution. They spelled it out and now, generations of Americans are being vexed by the progressives, the statists and the legions of little, touchy totalitarian social micro-managers with the massive egos that are so predictably and wildly disproportionate to their actual intelligence and their commensurate appreciation of Western concepts of individual freedom.
We need to take back the word "denier".
I find it sickening that weather
If you use "denier" because you don't like what I have to say about the weather, then you're a totalitarian bastard and worthy of contempt. If you call me a "denier", you shut down the conversation, and you can stick your monologue and demagoguery where the hockey stick don't shine.
The last note from Mark Steyn is a response to those who have asked how to support this battle.
He writes:
(PS Several readers have asked if I have a legal-defense fund. No, and I don't really care for them. But, if you want to support the cause of free speech, you could do far worse than buy a copy of Lights Out from the SteynOnline bookstore. Or, if you're in the vicinity, swing by to one of the stops on my Florida tour - I'll be giving away my antidote to Mann's hockey stick, the Liberty Stick.)
Sorry, is it HOT IN HERE???
Did Mark Steyn just say he was *giving* away his Liberty Stick?
What, to the highest bidder?
The Liberty Stick could possibly be added to the vast array of Steyn Store products, you know-just to lighten things up and make assorted legions of female fans "happy", although I understand there is a risk of blindness with such proclivities....BUT OH I DIGRESS!!! SORRY WHERE WAS I???
Florida is a little too far of a road trip for me, but believe me, the live show is well worth your time. I've been to several (OK, I've been to ALL the ones in Ontario, but who is counting?!?!)
And, you can and should do your own thing to take back liberty as well. You grab it back because nobody is going to politely serve it back to you with a side order of fair trade coffee and soy milk if you know what I'm saying.
Baby steps and Godzilla-sized footprint steps are both necessary.
So get to it.