My latest in PJ Media:
Richard Stengel, according to the New York Post, “is the Biden transition ‘Team Lead’ for the US Agency for Global Media, the U.S. government media empire that includes Voice of America, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.” He is also a menace to our constitutional protections and to free society in general. If he is any indication of what is coming, we’re in for a rough four years, or longer.
Stengel wrote last year in a Washington Post op-ed that the freedom of speech must be restricted, for “all speech is not equal. And where truth cannot drive out lies, we must add new guardrails. I’m all for protecting ‘thought that we hate,’ but not speech that incites hate.”
What kind of speech “incites hate”? As far as Stengel is concerned, the answer is any speech that Muslims find offensive. He wrote: “Even the most sophisticated Arab diplomats that I dealt with did not understand why the First Amendment allows someone to burn a Koran. Why, they asked me, would you ever want to protect that?”
Well, maybe because a law forbidding criticism (including mockery) of any group establishes that group as a protected class that cannot be questioned, and that in turn would allow this group to do whatever it wanted without fear of any opposition even being allowed to articulate its case. The freedom of speech is, in sum, our foremost protection against tyranny. Without it, a tyrant can work his will without any fear of his opponents uttering even one cross word.
But instead of explaining and defending the freedom of speech, Stengel agreed with his “sophisticated Arab diplomats,” answering their query about Qur’an-burning with this: “It’s a fair question. Yes, the First Amendment protects the ‘thought that we hate,’ but it should not protect hateful speech that can cause violence by one group against another. In an age when everyone has a megaphone, that seems like a design flaw.”
There is much more. Read the rest here.
Angel Jako says
By that same logic, koran is the first book that should be banned, because it’s full of hate speech and incitement to violence that people act upon every single day.
Vivek Kapoor says
The US has not been the worst victim of Militant Islam: Ancient Persian, Indic, and Armenian folks have lost greater number of lives due to this scourge. Shame on a politically correct American trying to curry favor with Militant Islam.
gravenimage says
Yes–these are among the people who have suffered longest at the hands of Islam. But the West is a special target right now, as the most powerful of Infidels–as Constantinople was the biggest target a thousand years ago.
Bikinis not Burkas says
The Quran is a terrorist’s manual.
Eric Brenner says
Do not change one Word in the Constitution,Bill Of Right. This will be the End of America as we now no IT. People of America We are losing our Freedom. To Be or not Be. Free ??
abad says
Look, the ONLY freedome we will have under a Biden presidency is the “freedom” to change our gender.
There will be no other freedoms.
Linda M Gusch says
I unfortunately believe that, changing the Constitution, I regards to free speech, and the ability to own guns, and weapons, is first on the list of Biden, and Kamala Harris.
Harris has been quoted as saying, that the ability to own land, should be curtailed.
They want Americans to have to live in apartments, condos, where we cannot hide weapons, or cannot be,” monitored”, by the government!
Isn’t that nice. What are we up against?
curious george says
Good Points. ? ??
The good news…
Now the bad news… The bad guys are winning the battle to create a One World Government.
UN Agenda 2030: A Recipe for Global Socialism
https://thenewamerican.com/un-agenda-2030-a-recipe-for-global-socialism/
“The master plan is comprised of 17 “Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) with 169 specific “targets” to be foisted on all of humanity — literally all of it, as the plan itself states explicitly. “As we embark on this collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind,” reads the UN manifesto, entitled Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. But if you love liberty, self-government, free markets, or the U.S. Constitution, you will almost certainly be wishing that the UN would leave you behind.”
Batten down the hatches, the worst is yet to come!
owensgate says
Not what… Who. Satan.
gravenimage says
Linda, do you have that quote from Harris?
curious george says
“In another interview Sunday, with Eric Bolling for his “America This Week” program, Powell said the Trump team is facing “an election that was absolutely rigged.”
“It’s going to blow the mind of everyone in this country when we get it all together and can explain it with the affidavits and the experts that have come forward,” she said.”
https://www.wnd.com/2020/11/sidney-powell-impeach-john-roberts-dismisses-election-fraud/
Wellington says
Biden cannot be trusted for two reasons: 1) he’s losing whatever mind he ever had and it was never much in the first place; 2) Biden is now the leader of a major party which has turned Far Left and thus hates disagreement, whether on climate, taxes, gender rights, bathroom rights, racial matters, immigration, the Constitution, police, Islam, educational policy, approaches to Covid-19, et al.
The increasingly dim-witted Biden will do most everything ass-backwards. Count on it.
BTW, I have long asserted that America has never had a dumb President. That’s about to change. You could probably find fence posts brighter than Biden.
Ed Lee says
You don’t believe that the Democrats ever intended on leaving a 77-year-old man with advancing dementia in the White House, do you? About 2 weeks before the election, both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, speaking at separate campaign rallies in separate cities, mentioned “the upcoming Harris administration”. The 25th Amendment will be used to remove Biden from the presidency.
Wellington says
We have no disagreement. Biden is a corrupt figurehead and the only question is how long he can remain an empty vessel. The timing remains in doubt and nothing else.
gravenimage says
I also see that CNN, the Washington Post, Fortune, NPR, and other news outlets are referring to this as the “Biden-Harris administration”. Who does that? I can’t recall hearing anyone refer to the “Trump-Pence administration”–or, for that matter, the “Obama-Biden administration”, either.
curious george says
It’s called “mind control.”
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
– Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945)
I recently heard that there are 19 counties in the United States that have voted for the winner in every Presidential election since Reagan. This year 18 of those counties voted for Trump by an average of 16 points, the 19th for Biden by 3 points.
eduardo odraude says
Good point. Usually one simply refers to the Obama administration, the Bush administration, etc.
gravenimage says
agreed, curious george and James.
And disturbing about those counties, curious george.
Infidel says
Not only dumb president, America has never rejected such a popular president as Trump. Like in the returns, his numbers have gone up w/ every demographic except white males (and this is due to all those who blame him for the pandemic response), along w/ his party, the GOP have picked up house seats and held their own in the senate (I think Martha McSally’s defeat is as questionable as Trump’s in Arizona), and there have been a record number of Democrat defections to either GOP or Independent.
When you have all those ground realities, 3 of the states that voted Trump last time flipping this time hardly make any sense. At this point, the only sensible way to resolve this is to have congress electing the president and VP as per the constitution, since the whole election results are a mess, thanks to a combination of flipped votes by Dominion software, unmatched signatures on ballots, opaque counting in precincts and so on. If those votes are counted for Biden, republicans won’t be happy, and if they’re rejected, Dems won’t be: either side will claim that the elections were stolen. The best solution right now is to have congress decide this, since there’s no way that the entire election can be deciphered given everything that happened up to election day!
Doris Frech says
Yes, yes and yes!!!
tgusa says
Whatever America may have been in the past in many places it is dead now. The destruction of anything and everything resembling the America of the past is on the table. When the crackhead degenerate son of a lifelong do nothing politician can become wealthy beyond his wildest dreams while business owners struggle to make ends meet you cant really call that a country of any significance. Either there was massive fraud or the people voted for the destruction. I think it is some of both. States where the people want to remain free under the Constitution should be preparing accordingly because the storm is already upon us.
gravenimage says
A lot of people who voted for Biden have no real idea of what he stands for–certainly not the crushing of freedom of speech.
tgusa says
The hardest part for me is having to live here in a country filled with a staggering number of outright dunces. I feel completely out of place. This Thanksgiving I will give thanks for having lived in the America of the past. It wasn’t perfect nothing is. But it sure was a helluva a lot better than what we have today.
Wellington says
Hopefully, tgusa, you’ll be able to enjoy Thanksgiving. Since the Leftist PC police are most everywhere today, even Thanksgiving and Christmas are in jeopardy, even in one’s home.
Covid-19 is the excuse. Control is the reason.
tgusa says
My neighbors are all having company and getting together and have been for awhile. Of course as a result of the virus gestapo out there I cant say where that is. Happy Thanksgiving Wellington, enjoy!
James Lincoln says
tgusa,
I hear you.
I feel like a dinosaur in a “woke” America…
James Lincoln says
Absolutely true, gravenimage.
I have extended family members as well as friends who voted for Biden based mainly upon:
1. 24/7 propaganda spouted by CNN / MSNBC as their primary news sources.
2. A problem with Pres. Trump’s “style” and his ability to be, at times, crude / rude / offensive / loud, etc.
3. A desire to be liked and accepted by other Democrats – and even Trump supporters will not really bother them.
That being said, when I have discussed the policies / accomplishments of the Trump administration, they are at a loss for words.
And they cannot clearly articulate the proposed policies of Biden / Harris.
I’m not kidding – my own sister for gosh sakes!
underbed cat says
James lincoln agree, most democrats who think they are so intelligent but don’t really research much, and the misinformation campaign by the media was relentless. A lot of the problem was the dicing facts or parts of sentences that left out information. A clever democratic trait when it comes to the news. Calling Trump a racist was disgustingly common, a clearly uninformed opinion but that’s all they hear from media. Funny how many people came from Illinois and attended Trump rallies, they practically introduced themselves and stated they were from Illinois said they hoped Trump would win Wisconsin…Big surprise. I asked them if he should have visited Illinois and they stated Dems are too corrupt and Chicago has a large Islamic neigborhoods that they find dangerous and shootings are a huge problem even while driving. Will they ever examine Biden, or hear Bobulinski details about business transactions, or worry about free speech, or worry about mass migration invasion or Biden trying to reopen an Iran nuclear deal, to a country ideology that call for death to America during Friday protests? Nope. Its fantasy Islam all the way, and hate for reason that only knowing facts can change.
Washinton Trump March was awesome, peaceful until the left and antifa arrived. Where was the condemnation for that behavior ?
Infidel says
James, I visited my son and my ex the weekend after election day. She’s a diehard Leftist working in Academia, so I went there w/ the goal of not touching politics AT ALL, since I wanted the visit to be a pleasant one after 5 years. Yet she always had the laptop on on CNN, and the reports were going on about the counting status in Pennsylvania. It was insufferable. My son too voted for Biden, but that was probably peer influence or mom’s influence, dunno which
Family is hardly the place to look for support. These days, especially in the lockdown era, it’s worth looking for family amongst those one meets online. I do it here, on Breitbart and to a lesser extent, Parler
gravenimage says
James, I also have loved ones who voted this way. Your list is very accurate. Most of them have no idea what he really stands for.
curious george says
underbed cat says,
most democrats who think they are so intelligent but don’t really research much, and the misinformation campaign by the media was relentless.
……………………………………………..
It appears that the “misinformed” are on both sides of the aisle.
Transsexual Satanist anarchist’ wins GOP nomination for sheriff in NH county
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/transexual-satanist-anarchist-picks-up-gop-sheriff-nh-county
New Hampshire Election Results: Cheshire Sheriff
Eli Rivera D 34,635 75%
Aria DiMezzo R 7,964 17%
Earl Nelson Write-in 3,686 8%
https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-county-race-results-2020/34541028
Infidel says
Curious George, Fox News has joined the ranks of fake news as of this season. Just b’cos they say that this guy is an anarchist doesn’t make him so
eli says
They need to leave the Bill of Rights as it is. Omar came into office with hate speech against President Trump, and continues with hate speech against anyone with whom, she disagrees. Some of us don’t understand the Socialist Democrats or Muslim double standards. There should have been consequences for Obama, encouraging the Marxist BLM, as a revolution to get things done, or Pelosi’s declaring a “resistance to Trump.” Surely, Maxine Waters should have been reprimanded for telling her audience to stormtroop Republicans in the street. They all encouraged destructive, hateful actions of riots. STORM or Stand Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement is an association, along with Maoist Communist, Youth Empowerment, that deceptive, Socialist Kamala Harris is familiar. Speech like that should have been stopped, but they only want to stop what is offensive to them.
gravenimage says
Van Jones was a member of STORM.
gravenimage says
Biden Transition Official Believes the First Amendment Has a ‘Design Flaw’ — His Remedy Is to Curb Free Speech
………………
*Terrifying*.
Wellington says
Terrifying indeed, gravenimage, and by way of getting control of one of the two major political parties in America, aided by a woeful MSM and a ridiculously woke academia.
The Democratic Party of old is dead, so is the media and the educational establishment. One knows this by now or should know it.
gravenimage says
All grimly true, Wellington.
Kepha says
Uncle Kepha hates violence, buit I think this guy Stengel is the sort of person who should be hissed and rotten tomatoed everywhere he goes.
To his “sophisticated Arab diplomat interlocutors, he should’ve said, “Saudi Arabia bans the import of the Bible. Your own ountries approve death for apostasy from Islam. To us, this is unthinkable.” That he didn’t shows that he is both treasonous toward the US Consttution and a sniveling coward towards people who wish us ill.
Anytime freedom of speech is threatened by the Biden administration, prepare for lawfare, and if it fails, give the Left a taste of its own medicine.
Walter Sieruk says
This above jihadwatch article brought up the topic of “hate speech” and of course this might lead to hateful violent and vicious actions.
The point is the left keep on complaining about what they view a “hate speech ” from conservative groups . That complaint by those leftists is a false claim. Yet those leftists members of the groups ,Antifia and BLM ,with their Marxist- Islamic alliance mindset,also called the “Red/ Green alliance.” Who are also fans and admirers and supporters of Joe Biden , are the actually ones who engage in malicious hate speech foul lanuage literal violence against peaceful people who happen not to have the same beliefs as they do .
That’s real hate speech and criminal action a vicious violence carried out by the Antifa and BLM members.
For example ,as revealed on the Hannity news program on the night of Monday 16 that on Saturday 14 of November there was a peaceful supporter of President Trump march.
After the peaceful march those Antifia and BLM hooligans rudely harassed and even violently and viciously assaulted and struck the Trump supporters who were walking back to their hotels and even later gave them harassment who were in having a restaurant dinner.
Some of those those Antifa and BLM thugs who attacked Trump supporter were were even elderly women
as well as small children who of who went with their parents to take part in the pro-Trump march. How very cowardly of them.
As for hate speech of one of the members of those two Marxist groups actually violently ripped hat American flag out of the hands of young woman and yelled out at her “F… the American flag”
By using that lanuage he was exposing how totally low class is really is, this is also hate speech, and he had no right to steal that flag from her.
Those awful Anfifa and BLM ,Red/Greed alliance lawless ruffians are a brutal reminder of the 1979 movie entitled TIME AFTER TIME,in which the hero of that movie wisely said “The first man to raise his fist is the man who has run out of ideas.”
Therefore those violent men who are Antifa and BLM members awful behavior of vicious violence must be the ones who have “run out of ideas.”
Walter Sieruk says
The real “design flaw” is the feeble workings of Joe Biden’s defective brain. Which is full of cognition errors.
Rod says
According to PJ,
“The destruction of the freedom of speech is an idea whose time has come, says Stengel.”
There is no evidence whatever that Stengel said any such thing. Not in the PJ article. Not in Spencer’s superheated but entirely artificial condemnation. And of course
Mr Stengel never would say such a thing. Why would he, and expose himself to outrage and ridicule? (No more would Justin Trudeau condemn free speech, even though not long ago Robert Spencer told you, dishonestly, that he did).
Of course there are, and should be, limits to free speech. Some of my posts have been deleted from this website – is that proof enough? What happened then to my right to free speech? Otherwise, look at the legal remedies for slander, libel, defamation.
Why, oh why, do you people let yourselves be played so blatantly by charlatans? It’s not as if the deceptions are subtle or sophisticated.
You seem to be so gullible that it’s no wonder the Liar-in-Chief conned you so successfully, not just in 2016, but every day since.
Alice says
You probably would be in favor of Shariah.
Hoi Polloi says
“Mr Stengel never would say such a thing.” Yet he did and it takes one click to pull it up. I read wapo the day he said what he would “never” say. I am continually amazed by the “lies!” and “never!” “and didn’t happen” refutations that people use, seemingly totally unconcerned by easily accessible facts. Wapo tried this again, btw, in spite of absolute condemnation from its paying subscribers. So much for never. Who is gullible and played? Also noted your repeating the word sophisticated to condemn.
James Lincoln says
Rod,
The quote:
“The destruction of the freedom of speech is an idea whose time has come, says Stengel.”
…is also referenced in American Truth Today.
And people often say things that expose themselves to outrage and ridicule – sometimes unknowingly.
https://americantruthtoday.com/left-news/2020/11/15/biden-transition-official-believes-the-first-amendment-has-a-design-flaw-his-remedy-is-to-curb-free-speech/
Rod says
James, it does not matter how many sources allege that Stengel said it. There is no evidence, no direct quote, no probability, no reason to believe that he actually did say it.
So there is only an allegation. And considering its improbability and the very obvious omission of a direct quote, it’s clear that he did not say it.
Those who claim that he did are assuming that you are a credulous fool. I fear they may be correct.
If Spencer writes – “The world is flat, says Trump”, that would not be evidence that Trump said it, and you would be a fool to believe it.
There are direct quotes in PJ and American Truth of other things which Stengel did say or write, which you can repeat, as his words, without fear of contradiction if you wish.
So, your hero Spencer has lied to you. Again. Get used to it.
gravenimage says
Of course, Robert Spencer never makes the assertion that Stengel used this exact phrase–anyone can read the article above–but “Rod” hopes that we won’t.
Rod says
“Of course, Robert Spencer never makes the assertion that Stengel used this exact phrase”
He clearly did, but you’d like us all to pretend that he didn’t. Is that how it works? That’s the usual way of living with lies. Life skills for bigots.
gravenimage says
“Rod” is either lying, or else he is woefully ignorant. Single quotes do not indicate a direct quote, but instead a summing up.
gravenimage says
Saying that the First Amemendment is flawed is pretty bad. Never mind that those trampling on human rights seldom come out and directly admit it–certainly not in democratic societies.
As for “Rod” himself, I am unaware of any of his comments here being spammed. Generally someone is spammed here only if they directly incite violence–which “Rod” here is usually savvy enough not to do–or for the extreme use of profanity.
In any case, though, Jihad Watch is a privately-owned blog–implying that Robert Spencer setting his own standards is the same as the government crushing freedom of speech is of course ludicrous calumny.
For instance, should “Rod” be forced to host Anti-Jihadists in his own living room, despite his obvious hatred of those who oppose Jihad terror? Obviously not, nor is anyone suggesting that he should have to do so.
Clearly, “Rod” continues to post here at the sufferance of Robert Spencer, which pretty obviously shows just what a champion of freedom of speech he truly is.
Rod says
How could words written by slave owners hundreds of years ago possibly be “flawed”? Ridiculous!
Next thing they’ll try to tell us that the Sacred Book of Genesis is not accurate in every detail.
People get spammed here for inciting violence or profanity? And Robert Spencer has some special sanction to act as the censor?
Gee, what about that freedom of speech which is so absolutely inviolable. Nobody, not even Justin Trudeau or Mr Stengel is allowed to suggest otherwise without being ridiculed by, guess who – Robert Spencer himself.
Is this hypocrisy writ large? Or is doublethink unavoidable among bigots?
Hoi Polloi says
Is “freedom of speech….so absolutely inviolable” in Islam, Rod? No. Are you calling them bigots because of that? When and where?
“Nobody, not even Justin Trudeau or Mr Stengel is allowed to suggest otherwise without being ridiculed by, guess who – Robert Spencer himself.”…. Are these men above ridicule? Why? And if you consider reasoned, fact-based reporting, arguments, and exposure of their damaging politics, words, and actions ridicule, then you must have a vested interest in seeing Americans lose the very first right granted in their constitution. Why? Is sharia your goal? Good luck creating a society as productive as the US has been under that system. That standard has never even been approached,14 centuries in.
“Is this hypocrisy writ large? Or is doublethink unavoidable among bigots?” Is it doublethink to defend the rights of men who demote women to half-human status? As a start. Is that hypocrisy? Bigotry? Worse.
gravenimage says
“Rod” wrote:
How could words written by slave owners hundreds of years ago possibly be “flawed”? Ridiculous!
…………………………
*Of course* “Rod” is sneering at freedom and democracy. Yes, the Founders were flawed–but they wrestled with their flaws.
Abolitionists regularly cited the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as grounds for freeing the slaves–rightly so. And slavery *has been* abolished in the West long since.
Note that even though he has been urged to do so dozens of times that “Rod” has consistently refused to condemn slavery under Islam, which has not been abolished *to this day*, Very telling.
More:
People get spammed here for inciting violence or profanity? And Robert Spencer has some special sanction to act as the censor?
Gee, what about that freedom of speech which is so absolutely inviolable. Nobody, not even Justin Trudeau or Mr Stengel is allowed to suggest otherwise without being ridiculed by, guess who – Robert Spencer himself.
Is this hypocrisy writ large? Or is doublethink unavoidable among bigots?
…………………………
Well, this is just grotesque–the idea that if Robert Spencer supports freedom of speech that he should allow thugs here to threaten other posters is ludicrous.
Firstly, threatening others is not freedom of speech to begin with, then the “special sanction” is that this is Robert Spencer’s *own blog*. I have noted previously that no one should force “Rod” to host Anti-Jihadists in his own living room, since he hates them so much. Demanding that Robert Spencer allow barbarians to threaten posters here is just as twisted.
The difference is between public and private space. There should be no limit save that of inciting violence on *public* speech. “Rod” either cannot tell the difference, or else is pretending that he is unable to.
And if Jihad Watch *really* censored speech, “Rod” here would have been banned long ago–but he continues to spew his ugliness here year in and year out.
Rod says
Hoi Polloi, you seem to have missed the point by a good couple of miles. Find somebody to explain it for you.
Andrew says
So if I tell a muslim guy that I think his religion seems very violent and he then attacks me very violently for suggesting this, is he being a good muslim by proving that I am the bad guy for using mere words and thoughts, and he is the good muslim for being very violent against these words?.
Its all very confusing…
Rod says
I can’t believe that even a Republican judge hand picked and appointed by Trump would have a problem with your case, Andrew. Why are you confused?
James Lincoln says
Rod,
When a muslim becomes violent toward a nonbeliever – because that particular nonbeliever said that islam is violent – it is confusing that the violent muslim cannot see the irony in the action.
It is not logical…
gravenimage says
Is “Rod” admitting that Islam is hideously violent, and is so on the basis of its canonical texts? Given that “Rod” always whitewashes this foul creed, this seems unlikely…
Agostino Armo Pellegrini says
..but it should not protect hateful speech that can cause violence by one group against another. Stengel.
This incorrectly puts the entire burden of acceptable free speech on the speaker but none on the one who is “offended,” and is practically an open ended invitation to do violence over every little “offense.” The flaw in Stengel’s thinking is that he doesn’t take into account that one can be “offended” for any number of meritless reasons that rob the 1st amendment of its import; like low self esteem, ignorance, hatefulness, self-centerdness, intolerance, hyper-sensitivity, as some examples. But these egocentric and subjective interpretations–which varies from person to person or group to group–can itself be the the cause of violence. For example, a person can be so intolerant or “sensitive,” that it becomes the catalyst for violence because that intolerance makes peaceable communication and understanding impossible. Or, acting willfully ignorant can be more “hateful” and offensive than simply speaking a painful truth. Or, acting like an intolerant bigot can be more incendiary than the open minded opinion of another. Or, acting like a hyper-sensitive prick can be more enraging than a reasoned critique of ones religion, or even an UNreasoned critique. After all, what’s more hateful, one who is sincerely unreasoned in their opinion or one who commits violence in response out of hypersensitivity? I think it’s at least debatable.
What we have going on here is an aggressive takeover by fascist c*nts who want to destroy free speech and turn our nation into a totalitarian nightmare. Put your mask on, you slave, and keep your mouth shut about the election or antifa will beat you. Bend over at the airport and don’t you dare mention islam or you’ll go to jail. Slide over and let that intolerant islamic enclave consume your neighborhood, you xenophobe, or we’ll ostracize you into the ground. No honest opinion or list of facts is worthy of 1st Amendment protection if it offends the left or islam, and practically everything their opponents do offends the left and islam. The only time leftist groups love the 1st Amendment is when it works for their own fascist agenda; like when they attack white America and our presumed prejudice and then use those hateful hyperboles to justify defaming others and doing violence. And as a white non-racist I find that very offensive and hateful. The accusations of racism against White America is “hate speech” as it is grossly disproportionate to the truth for the purpose of inciting racial division and hate. Am I 100% correct in my opinion? Perhaps not, but that doesn’t matter according to Stengel, I’m offended so leftists are responsible for any violence I may do. The real problem is that BLM, like muslims in general, don’t want to take responsibility for themselves, it’s everyone else’s fault they are so offended. But the truth is, they are the cause of their own offense as that offense is derived from their own willful distortion of reality and hateful intolerance. It’s as if the 1st Amendment has become the whipping post for every hurt feeling they may have, but at the expense of everyone else’s right to express a contrary opinion or fact. This is the doctrine of a thoughtless child, it’s anarchy and a tool for tyrants, and today’s tyrants are the antifa-BLM leftists and muslims who want to destroy America. Believe it.
gravenimage says
Good analysis, Agostino.
Agostino Armo Pellegrini says
Thanks, all I can do is my best. If it flies then good, but if it doesn’t then Oh well. 🙂
OLD GUY says
If speech that muslims find offensive is considered hate speech and racism then islam becomes the only free speech group in the world. Islam finds everything offensive that points out the hate and violence that islam promotes around the world. Islam promotes evil violent acts against others on a daily basis and uses the media to recruit and incite these acts.
You either have freedom of speech or you don’t.
gravenimage says
+1
DavidR says
Now the whole Northern hemisphere will weigh so heavily left of spin that the Earth will shift just enough to make the weather wretched and ruin property values everywhere north of the equator.
Art says
Biden has picked his Joseph Goebbels, what next?
Agostino Armo Pellegrini says
Perhaps the same thing that happened in Hitler’s Germany: Censorship, vicious propaganda, and firing squads. Don’t laugh, history repeats itself. It looks to me like the left is on a dark path with their anti-free speech–pro-islam–defund the police–anti-2nd Amendment–victim producing–antifa loving–fake news–hate “whitey,”–anti-freedom–anti-America– socialist leaning agenda. Candice Owens made a keen remark on her Instagram, Black lives matter is an organization of white men, using the faces of dead black people, to raise millions of dollars for electing white democrats into positions of power. So true. Democrats are experts at exploiting the underclass for their own purposes and profit. Give ’em a dozen unfettered years and they’ll turn us into a socialist shit hole drowning bureaucratic inefficiency and economic stagnation. I’m for the foundational principles that made our nation great. Democrats seem to represent the opposite of that, and their lies and shilling for islam only reinforces this in my mind.
Kepha says
Mr. Biden, if you are at all sincere in your call for peace, civility, and reconciliation, fire Richard Stengel as a would-be murderer of the heart and soul of American politics and governance for his call to limit First Amendment rights. Stengel should be called out and shamed wherever he goes. His employment in the US government, whether in public diplomacy, or at the President’s side, is an utter disgrace and an insult to all that this country is. He should be turned into an issue, not only by 70 millions-plus Trump supporters, but by all Americans who value liberty.
Why couldn’t Richard Stengel have told his Arab Muslim interlocutors that under the First Amendment, Americans have burned not only the Qur’an, but also the Bible, the US flag, and the Constitution itself? It is a non-negotiable of our political culture and governance. If this report is true–and it is apparently a story Mr. Stengel told on himself–it is clear that he failed utterly in representing the USA abroad, which is a diplomat’s job. The First Amendment is there so American can openly dialogue with their government. It is a safeguard that someone can find away for the country to work its way out of a harmful or dangerous course of action.
Why anyone would engage in an action that insults another, is indeed a good question. Mr. Stengel has the right to ask it; even if his proposal to enact “hate speech” laws is the cold and bloody murder of the ground of all American political and civil rights. Some of us would not burn a book, even one that is insulting or evil. Yet for some, mere disagreement is a withering insult and the sort of “hate speech” Stengel would ban. The First Amendment that protects one man’s right to burn the Qur’an (or the flag) also protects an imam’s right to call the Jews “kinsmen of apes and pigs” per Surahs 2 and 5 of the Qur’an itself, and also protects another’s right to defend his group against calumny. Take an eample. As a traditional Christian of partial German Jewish descent and one who has lived in countries where female literacy was actively encouraged by Evangelical Christian missionaries, I see Margaret Attwood’s _Handmaid’s Tale_ as a secular Leftist _Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion_, and the sort of hate-and-fear calumny that would warm the cockles of Julius Streicher as he burns in Hellfire. Would Mr. Stengel, then, approve of my suing Ms. Attwood’s publishers and PBS (for the TV version) for damages to my frail ego under his proposed “hate speech” laws?
People like Richard Stengel should not be allowed to govern.
somehistory says
“”California: Huck Finn, To Kill A Mockingbird & Other Classic Books Banned In Schools For “Racism”
gravenimage says
Yes–how insane *is this*? Two books that are profoundly *antiracist*.
somehistory says
https://thewashingtonstandard.com/california-huck-finn-to-kill-a-mockingbird-other-classic-books-banned-in-schools-for-racism/
“To Kill a Mockingbird”
was clearly showing the wrongness of the bigotry of some Whites against Black people.
The parts of Peck and his kids, and even the sheriff, were ***not*** racist.
.
It’s been too long since I read Mark Twain, so I will not comment on that particular book. But honestly, it takes a real idiot…of which there seem to be a bumper crop…to believe that
To Kill A Mockingbird” should be kept away from children. It even shows that the mentally ill or developmentally challenged, have a place in society and should be respected.
This is all a part of the mantra that it’s “racist” to tell the Truth…about race relations or isalm, etc.
Therefore, anything that hints at the Truth, history or otherwise, must be destroyed.
gravenimage says
Somehistory, Huckleberry Finn is a very anti-slavery book.
somehistory says
Thanks,g.
That fact, I was fairly sure of, but since I don’t recall many details, I hesitated to comment on the contents.
It seems that the only thing of which I feel that I remember is that Huck went with a Black man on a raft and they came to depend on each other, best of friends and all that goes with it.
I may be wrong about that part too. It’s just been too long and my memory has suffered a lot in the last few years. Too much stress, I’m thinking.
Banning those books is a very foolish thing to do. But, if the kids learn about the ban, perhaps some will want to get them from a public library or have their parent do so and read and learn something.
I’ve watched “To Kill A Mockingbird” every chance I had and read the book some years ago. One of my favorites. I love the part where the old gentleman in the courthouse tells Scout to stand up cause her “Father is coming in.” As a child in the South, we were taught respect for our “elders” and good manners were required. Stand up when an adult enters the room, and offer your chair.
gravenimage says
Your memory of Huck Finn is quite right. There are also lots of points made about slavery and the nature of antibellum Southern society in general. But you remembered the key point.
gravenimage says
The brilliant Mark Steyn refers to this as the “Decapitator’s Veto”:
https://www.steynonline.com/10761/the-decapitator-veto
Hoi Polloi says
Great summation of the problem. Thanks.