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Oct 6, 2006

free speech?

so here at Columbia, the Minuteman founder was forced off the stage yesterday by protesting students. he was planning to speak against illegal immigration.

These students turned him into a victim. By attacking him physically instead of debating him, they helped him get more media attention and gave him more venues to speak his views, instead of silencing him as they intended.

What is going on? The practices of the current administration are being accepted by the general public--the idea that everyone should not be allowed to say what they want. Just call the media liberal and they will bend over backwards to not tell the "liberal" side of the story. Tell the country they are traitors and unamerican and against God if they dare question your policies. Or just refuse to talk to them unless they ask the easy questions.

Bush surrounds himself with people who will never criticize or question him. He squelches debate by playing the father who knows best. It's hard to debate someone too who won't tell you what's going on, refuses to tell the truth. Clinton lied about sex. Bush's lying brought us into Iraq and thousands and thousands of people have died because of it. He has turned the US into a terrorist country that ignores the Geneva convention and tortures people--people who may or may not even be involved with terrorist networks.

And he wants the power to tap the phones without warrants, and jail anyone including you or me without any proof of wrongdoing or any way for you or I to ever get out of jail, because you can't get a lawyer if you haven't been charged with anything. So you just sit in your foreign jail until they torture you to death.

Meanwhile the terrorist threat is worse because of Iraq. The rest of the world sees our country does not respect human life, that we set a bad example. We are a world power and we are a fucking asshole who refuses to listen to other people's opinions who only responds with violence. Because we know best. Like these Columbia kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuNXmy0e5fc

At the end of the video some guy says that republicans would never respond that way. with violence. and this is partially true. They don't have to when they can get the cops and the army to do it for them.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I dunno, man. I don't necessarily think that disrupting a speech as a form of protest is the same thing as the state denying free speech... If someone had successfully disrupted the Nuremberg Rallies, for example, would that have been so bad?

As far as the violence, I heard that the protesters were attacked by Minutemen supporters, which might or might not be true.

Adam Szymkowicz said...

Thanks, Jason. I see your point. unfortunately, it comes off as students preventing free speech...or that's how they're spinning it. It's hard to see from the video what exactly is going on.

My point was more that kids are growing up in an environment where they are taught that everyone should not have the right to speak their minds. This is what I find unsettling.