British Expatriate Network

What is happening in this country ? more and more our free speach rights are being eroded .

now its the religious right complaining about a comedians retoric .

personally i like kathy Griffin thought what she said was funny and a reflection of what folks recieving a award do say .... and have a cd of one of her acts .
its comedy folks grow up .

we have thewacky left complainiing each time a* comment/joke *is made about homosexuals , and yet they sit quietly when a statement is made about jews , and religion
and the bigoted right is the exact opposite and moan loadly when a referance is made to *jesus* or our friends ? in israel .

FFEE SPEACH IS FREE SPEACH and allowed under the constitution as long as it isnt hate or insticating war .

pretty soon we will have a 3 page dictionary of words we are ALLOWED to say and a 3000 page dictionary of words that are BANNED .


read about it here .





http//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070911/en_nm/griffin_emmys_dc_3
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I have to agree John.
If she had got up and said "go out and burn churches and kill catholics" - then I think they have a valid concern.
However obnoxious her remarks may seem to some people (and frankly I don't find them remotely offensive) you eithe rbelieve in free speech or you don't.

I do take issue though when you say that 'liberals' don't complain about anti-semitic remarks, that simply is not true.
However I do think that some people opperate a double standard. The ADL will jump up and down at any remark they perceive as anti-semitc, but are strangely silent when such discrimination is directed at others by Jews.
However there is a distinction between being critical of what someone says and denying them the right to say it.

If you say something I find offensive, I am entitled to complain. I am not entitled to either stop you from saying or try to get others from stopping from saying through threats to your career, livelihood, liberty or life.

Problem is Rob as i see it some people dont understand the concept of* free speech *

free speech is the right to say it, you dont have to agree (or like ) what is said .

If (and i hope not ) we are going to have censorship id put on the top of the list those right wing religious bigots who condem homesexuals to hell and generally talk about them as second class citizens ...

censorship can be a two edged sword ,and of course depends on who sets themselves up to be the censor ....

I recall in the distant past on this baord, we had this debate. Then I recall pointing to Maragret Thatcher's attempts to starve Sein Fein and the IRa of the "oxgen of publicity" by banning the broadcast of the voices of their members and supporters.
The media simply overdubbed them with the voices of actors.
The effect was to draw more attention to them.

I think those who advocte censorship should look to the words of Oscar Wilde - "the only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about".

or rather, who the people allow/choose to be censor.

yea know it was an F**ing joke get over it. what the hell is wrong with folk. I do think she is very funny, but I also like roy chubby brown lol