Ann Coulter cries that Canada is bullying her

[Asher]

Fine with me, but shame on you for pissing all over the freedom of speech.

If only you understood what we're talking about in this thread.

[Ecofarm]

Who's gonna stop these Canadian fascists? I'm thinking Mexicans.

[Asher]

Yup, just a private citizen

I'm not sure you understand that this man has no power over anyone who is not a student. None. Zero.

It's no different than a manager at a company sending the same letter to a speaker on the premises of that company.

In no way whatsoever does this equate to "authorities" (implication: legal power) providing "warnings" that were unwarranted.

You tools are implying the government sent her a letter, or the police, or someone equivalent. It was disingenuous and ignorant, and your futile attempt to make hay of this is simply annoying.

[Berzerker]

Asher, the guy sent her a letter as a representative of the school citing his non private citizen credentials and he spoke on behalf of the school and the state's laws. He's a bureaucrat (or civilian deuche), not just some private citizen. Thats misleading...

[Sparrowhawk]

Asher, the guy sent her a letter as a representative of the school citing his non private citizen credentials and he spoke on behalf of the school and the state's laws. He's a bureaucrat (or civilian deuche), not just some private citizen. Thats misleading...

But are you now arguing he was wrong to send the letter or the law is wrong in that it limits free speech?

If you can find something wrong in his letter I would like to see it as I have read and reread it and cannot see a problem.

If you have a problem with the law, then that is obviously a different issue. I don't want a teacher in schools feeling as they have the freedom (and the forum) to promote hatred towards their students. If that is what freedom of speech is in the U.S. perhaps there is too much freedom of speech there.

Bottom line is someone pointed out that if a fire alarm were pulled at an Obama speech the event would be cancelled, and as such I have no problem with her cancelling, if she felt she was in danger. Having said that, it is unfortunate that she did cancel, as it seems that every time she opens her mouth she does more to discredit her cause then cancelling and keeping her mouth shut.

[action=Sparrowhawk][/action]

[Asher]

Asher, the guy sent her a letter as a representative of the school citing his non private citizen credentials and he spoke on behalf of the school and the state's laws.

He's a bureaucrat (or civilian deuche), not just some private citizen. Thats misleading...

I am going to state this one more time, then placing you directly on the ignore list. So please pay close attention.

This man is not a representative of the government, but a representative of the school (if this descends into a discussion about how it's a public school, I'm going to violate the hate speech law myself).

This whole discussion is a red herring, leaving behind your apparent ignorance of the definition of bureaucrat.

The man did not warn her on behalf of the government. He sent her a letter that is, if anything, overly polite and casually reminds her of the laws we have here. There's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. There was ZERO threat in the letter. It is NOT unreasonable to send such a letter to someone who is known for making hateful comments that may not be aware of the laws in this country. She is not a citizen. She would not be expected know the laws.

The implication that "authorities" "warned" her before she even opened her mouth is nauseatingly stupid. She was informed of the current state of the laws pertaining to free speech in Canada, and that is all. She was informed this by an employee of the university, who happens to be a private citizen. She was not warned by the government, she was not warned by anyone who can charge her with a crime in any way.

This really settles the matter, as there's no room for rational discourse on this issue. It's simply cut and dry. But I'm still placing you on my ignore list for a while because I lack faith that you will comprehend that.

[Berzerker]

But are you now arguing he was wrong to send the letter or the law is wrong in that it limits free speech?

If you can find something wrong in his letter I would like to see it as I have read and reread it and cannot see a problem.

If you have a problem with the law, then that is obviously a different issue. I don't want a teacher in schools feeling as they have the freedom (and the forum) to promote hatred towards their students. If that is what freedom of speech is in the U.S. perhaps there is too much freedom of speech there.

Bottom line is someone pointed out that if a fire alarm were pulled at an Obama speech the event would be cancelled, and as such I have no problem with her cancelling, if she felt she was in danger. Having said that, it is unfortunate that she did cancel, as it seems that every time she opens her mouth she does more to discredit her cause then cancelling and keeping her mouth shut.

[action=Sparrowhawk][/action]

Asher and I were debating whether or not this guy was a bureaucrat or a private citizen. Thats all, nothing about him being right or wrong, etc... The law stinks though... Too ambiguous, too open to biases. If this was a gay speaker ripping religions apart for their anti-freedom BS and religious zealots shut them up with similar treatment, Asher would do a 180 in their defense.

[Berzerker]

I am going to state this one more time, then placing you directly on the ignore list. So please pay close attention.

This man is not a representative of the government, but a representative of the school (if this descends into a discussion about how it's a public school, I'm going to violate the hate speech law myself).

I just said he represented the school, you even quoted me saying it.

This whole discussion is a red herring, leaving behind your apparent ignorance of the definition of bureaucrat.

You called him a "civilian deuche", thats a bureaucrat in my book.

The man did not warn her on behalf of the government.

He spoke on behalf of the school citing the state's laws. He was not a private citizen, calling him that is misleading.

He sent her a letter that is, if anything, overly polite and casually reminds her of the laws we have here. There's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. There was ZERO threat in the letter. It is NOT unreasonable to send such a letter to someone who is known for making hateful comments that may not be aware of the laws in this country. She is not a citizen. She would not be expected know the laws.

Where did I say the guy threatened her? I said he warned her about the laws.

The implication that "authorities" "warned" her before she even opened her mouth is nauseatingly stupid.

Its true though

She was informed of the current state of the laws pertaining to free speech in Canada, and that is all. She was informed this by an employee of the university, who happens to be a private citizen. She was not warned by the government, she was not warned by anyone who can charge her with a crime in any way. This really settles the matter, as there's no room for rational discourse on this issue. It's simply cut and dry. But I'm still placing you on my ignore list for a while because I lack faith that you will comprehend that.

cya

[Asher]

This Ezra Levant douche has a history, BTW.

He's been sued for libel several times in his young life. Successfully.

He's known for making ridiculous claims then making further complaints himself saying he "fears for his safety" (same **** he's playing here with Coulter).

He's also a hypocrit. Here he is crying about how "free speech" needs to be absolute in Canada, and he supported George Galloway's refusal into Canada (who is a left-wing extremeist).

He is, quite simply, an immense tool.

[notyoueither]

I find it somewhat ironic that someone who enjoys the occassional tea party is crying foul over loud crowds shouting at them.

[Drake Tungsten]

I find it schadenfreuderific to see what an illiberal ****hole Canada is.

[Asher]

It's amazing to me people can think that. Do they not realize that Canada's laws had absolutely nothing to do with what happened?

The only place the laws came into play is when Ann Coulter filed a human rights complaint.

She's allowed to speak in Canada. She's just not man enough to do it.

[Asher]

FWIW, she's now moved her University of Calgary speech off-campus because there was a scheduled peaceful protest outside the venue there as well. They were trying to get the protest shut down in advance, in the name of free speech.

God, I love crazies.

[Drake Tungsten]

Do they not realize that Canada's laws had absolutely nothing to do with what happened?

I don't care about what happened; it's an incident of little importance. I'm more interested in Canada's disgraceful treatment of free speech and the fact that even institutions of higher learning in Canada are perfectly willing to warn people to watch what they say for fear of prosecution. This makes me proud to be an American in an era where not much else does.

[Asher]

There's still limits to freedom of speech in the US. Don't kid yourself.

Libel, slander, threats, and crowd-panic statements being the most obvious exceptions. There's also the issue of lying to a peace officer, lying under oath, etc. There are restrictions on what you can say, even in the USA.

I dare you to make a comment on the life of the present and see what happens.

The only difference between the US and Canada is Canada draws its line slightly differently -- in addition to all of the above, we also outlaw calls for genocide and speeches intended to incite others to "disturb the peace" at the expense of people's race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

In practical terms, the only difference between the Canadians and Americans is in Canada you can't call publicly for the genocide of people, or call for acts of violence against large swaths of the population based on being part of an identifiable group.

So let's cut the histrionics on it.

It's an entirely reasonable law, but I don't expect Americans to understand it. You guys grew up with the lies that you have complete freedom of speech, and anything other than that just won't cut it for you. That's great for you guys, but I think Canada is better without Fred Phelps being allowed to preach his hate in public.

Does Fred Phelps make the USA better? And don't answer that, Drake, because you will say yes.