Anne Coulter comes to Canada

[Born Free]

Yes...I reminded you.

Good. So now you acknowledge that the police didnt need to kill anyone and the right wing zealots felt it necessary. Did I forget to mention that the right wing zealot POTUS was a crook who wasnt interested in following the US constitution?

Just like FDR in the 1934 Teamsters riots.

I guess neither the left nor the right own the moral highground now do they.

No, the bottom line is that yours and their political lives revolve around Americans in and out of country making fools out of stupid ass hate speech laws.

More unenlightened buffonery. Canada's hate speech laws are just fine and you should try your very best not to get your shorts in a knot over them.

Edited March 26, 2010 by Born Free

[bush_cheney2004]

Good. So now you acknowledge that the police didnt need to kill anyone and the right wing zealots felt it necessary. Did I forget to mention that the right wing zealot POTUS was a crook who wasnt interested in following the US constitution?

....yeah...just like Trudeau (October Crisis).

I guess neither the left nor the right own the moral highground now do they.

There is no such thing as moral highground.....let alone a simpleton's world of left or right.

More unenlightened buffonery. Canada's hate speech laws are just fine and you should try your very best not to get your shorts in a knot over them.

I think it is a fair trade....really dumb ass limits on freedom of expression in Canada for really "dumb ass dope laws" in the USA.

[ToadBrother]

More unenlightened buffonery. Canada's hate speech laws are just fine and you should try your very best not to get your shorts in a knot over them.

I don't think they're just fine. In fact, they are sign of cowardice. If you can't debate a racist, then you're an intellectual lightweight, and shouldn't get the defense of the cops or a judge as some sort of artificial intellectual penis to make yourself feel big.

[Alta4ever]

I don't think they're just fine. In fact, they are sign of cowardice. If you can't debate a racist, then you're an intellectual lightweight, and shouldn't get the defense of the cops or a judge as some sort of artificial intellectual penis to make yourself feel big.

Why have we been more in agreement as of late?

[Shady]

Ann has a great column on this whole episode! I highly recommend it!

Posters advertising my speech have been officially banned, while posters denouncing me are plastered all over the University of Ottawa campus. Elected officials have been prohibited from attending my speeches. Also, the local clothing stores are fresh out of brown shirts.

...

While it was a relief to know that it is still permissible in Canada to promote hatred against unidentifiable groups, upon reading Francois' letter, I suddenly realized that I had just been the victim of a hate crime! And it was committed by Francois A. Houle (French for "Frank A. Hole").

...

What other speakers get a warning not to promote hatred? Did Francois A. Houle send a similarly worded letter to Israel-hater Omar Barghouti before he spoke last year at U of Ottawa?

How about Angela Davis, Communist Party member and former Black Panther who spoke at the University of Zero just last month?

Link

OMG! How can you not love this woman!

[nicky10013]

Ann has a great column on this whole episode! I highly recommend it!

OMG! How can you not love this woman!

Umm, we're not insane?

Also, perhaps we should get back to the actual story. Are we all forgetting that there were no violent protests? That the university didn't cancel the event? That Coulter's own person said the event was likely to be cancelled to a Conservative MP long before the lines were even starting to grow before the event? That she never even attempted to leave the Laurier Club; a 250 dollar a plate fundraising dinner for her?

Let's be honest here. This is as about as stage a political production that you can see. This whole thing was set up by Coulter and Levant for publicity.

As Lawrence Martin said, who's freedom of speech was impinged? She came, they protested, she ran away, the protestors won. Everyone (university, police) have said the event could've gone forward. No warnings were put out to her camp. So please, where were these alleged brownshirts? I'd like to see them.

Edited March 26, 2010 by nicky10013

[bush_cheney2004]

OMG! How can you not love this woman!

I think Ann Coulter should be the next US Ambassador to Canada....then she would have USMC protection.

[Smallc]

then she would have USMC protection.

I thought that was done by contractors now.

[jbg]

7You are right she has not broken any laws, but it seems that more people want to shut her up than let her speak. If we live in a democracy (lols) then that majority won.

That's mob rule, not democracy.

[bush_cheney2004]

I thought that was done by contractors now.

Nope...Marine Security Guard Battallion, Company E.

Semper Fi!

[bush_cheney2004]

Let's be honest here. This is as about as stage a political production that you can see. This whole thing was set up by Coulter and Levant for publicity.

No, the whole thing was set up by Canadians wishing to prove campus bias....they exceeded beyonf their wildest dreams.

As Lawrence Martin said, who's freedom of speech was impinged? She came, they protested, she ran away, the protestors won. Everyone (university, police) have said the event could've gone forward. No warnings were put out to her camp. So please, where were these alleged brownshirts? I'd like to see them.

So it was their expressed purpose to make the UofO and Canada look like a repressive laughing stock?

Mission Accomplished!

[ToadBrother]

Why have we been more in agreement as of late?

Heh. It is kind of funny.

To me, freedom to express oneself openly without having to look over one's shoulder to make sure the Thought Police is key to a healthy, open, democratic society. I loathe racists, and I think anyone who has been here a few months know how I feel about the likes of Lictor, but the point is that I would never dream of calling the cops because some a--wipe tells me "the Jews are out to control the world" or "them n-----s are out to make it with white women", or heck even saying something as outrageous and vile as "I wish Hitler had killed all the Jews". I'd debate them until my fingers were raw, because ultimately the only way to dismantle a bad idea is with a good idea. Trying to throw these guys in jail only serves to empower and embolden them. Groups like the White Supremacist movement are masters at manipulating hate laws to their advantage. About the only thing hate laws seem to accomplish is to prevent the sensitive ear from ringing, even as the monsters get ready to pull the carpet out from under them.

Like I said, if extremely free speech, which the US has more than any other extant or extinct nation, lead to Nazification and genocide, then why is an uber-liberal black man sitting in the Oval Office? It's because, I contend, that those in favor of banning certain kinds of speech under hate laws are indeed intellectual lightweights, incapable of debating crude or clever bigots, and simply hoping that if they can't have their tender sensibilities exposed to evil, that evil will somehow simply cease to exist. It's hard to overstate the absurdity and stupidity of this belief. There's a deep, sad irony that all of those that fear the Hitlers real and imagined of the world would invoke the same sort of anti-intellectual policies to attempt to eradicate those beliefs. It's an irony most hate law advocates seem to miss.

Edited March 26, 2010 by ToadBrother

[Alta4ever]

Heh. It is kind of funny.

To me, freedom to express oneself openly without having to look over one's shoulder to make sure the Thought Police is key to a healthy, open, democratic society. I loathe racists, and I think anyone who has been here a few months know how I feel about the likes of Lictor, but the point is that I would never dream of calling the cops because some a--wipe tells me "the Jews are out to control the world" or "them n-----s are out to make it with white women", or heck even saying something as outrageous and vile as "I wish Hitler had killed all the Jews". I'd debate them until my fingers were raw, because ultimately the only way to dismantle a bad idea is with a good idea. Trying to throw these guys in jail only serves to empower and embolden them. Groups like the White Supremacist movement are masters at manipulating hate laws to their advantage. About the only thing hate laws seem to accomplish is to prevent the sensitive ear from ringing, even as the monsters get ready to pull the carpet out from under them.

Like I said, if extremely free speech, which the US has more than any other extant or extinct nation, lead to Nazification and genocide, then why is an uber-liberal black man sitting in the Oval Office? It's because, I contend, that those in favor of banning certain kinds of speech under hate laws are indeed intellectual lightweights, incapable of debating crude or clever bigots, and simply hoping that if they can't have their tender sensibilities exposed to evil, that evil will somehow simply cease to exist. It's hard to overstate the absurdity and stupidity of this belief. There's a deep, sad irony that all of those that fear the Hitlers real and imagined of the world would invoke the same sort of anti-intellectual policies to attempt to eradicate those beliefs. It's an irony most hate law advocates seem to miss.

I agree 100%.

[jbg]

Exactly. She has ALL the same characteristics as a Nazi. It's a little known fact, but Adolf Hitler was a staunch supporter of Israel. Much in the same mold as Ann Coulter.

Generally I support you but trust me, Ann Coulter is no friend of the Jews.

[ToadBrother]

Generally I support you but trust me, Ann Coulter is no friend of the Jews.

Coulter is an entertainer who makes money being outrageous. What she, or any of that whole group (Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh) actually believes is a mystery to me, but it's pretty clear they've made craploads of money off of some very dumb people, both dipstick right-wingers who actually believe what they say, and by equally dip-stick left wingers who believe they believe what they say.

A fool and his money are soon parted, and anyone actually paying money to cheer or jeer Ann Coulter is indeed a fool.

[jbg]

Like I said, if extremely free speech, which the US has more than any other extant or extinct nation, lead to Nazification and genocide, then why is an uber-liberal black man sitting in the Oval Office? It's because, I contend, that those in favor of banning certain kinds of speech under hate laws are indeed intellectual lightweights, incapable of debating crude or clever bigots, and simply hoping that if they can't have their tender sensibilities exposed to evil, that evil will somehow simply cease to exist. It's hard to overstate the absurdity and stupidity of this belief. There's a deep, sad irony that all of those that fear the Hitlers real and imagined of the world would invoke the same sort of anti-intellectual policies to attempt to eradicate those beliefs. It's an irony most hate law advocates seem to miss.

Great post.

It's interesting. I've had some rather close e-friends, including some I talk to by phone in Canada, assume that because I'm Jewish I favor hate laws. Nothing could be further from the truth.

[kimmy]

I apologize, I missed the link.

Either way, what was so illegal? Now, I've been in a lot of very big crowds. Nothing from those pictures indicates to me anything close to rioting. Some jackass may have pulled the fire alarm, but it was made very clear that the fire alarm was reset and the event wasn't cancelled because of it. So...how do these pictures go to prove anything that has been alleged here? It doesn't. The protestors are allowed to protest just as much as Coulter is able to speak. So are you suggesting that they shouldn't protest?

Edit: Sorry, didn't necessarily mean to quote you and ask those questions as if you hold these ridiculous views.

You seem to be doing your level best to be disingenuous.

First off, Shady referenced the Flickr photoset in response to the claims by the CBC writer that there were 20-50 vocal protesters, and you insist on having Shady prove that he himself was in Ottawa, as if Shady's presence on the scene were relevant to anything.

Then when confronted with the photos and the narrative provided by the protester, you ask what was actually illegal.

Well, falsely pulling a fire alarm is illegal. As is trespass. The protesters boast that they infiltrated the building through side entrances and evaded security guards, so certainly it was trespass.

But that's completely beside the point.

The point was, Kady O'Malley's claim as to the well-behaved nature of the protesters was refuted.

The protesters themselves explaining that they'd infiltrated the building, and at one point over-ran the security staff, and documented the whole episode with photos.

And with the evidence the protesters have provided, it appears that the cancellation of the event is entirely reasonable. Clearly the security had been compromised by people hostile to the event. We don't have proof that they intended any violence, but assuming their intentions to be completely peaceful would have been a big assumption that could have put peoples' safety at risk.

-k

[wyly]

Well, falsely pulling a fire alarm is illegal. As is trespass. The protesters boast that they infiltrated the building through side entrances and evaded security guards, so certainly it was trespass.

you don't know who pulled the alarm it could've been coulters people or someone else entirely, it happens.

I don't know if you can be guilty of trespass in a public building through an open door, and it's certianly not evading security if there is no security guards at those doors...

[waldo]

Nope...Marine Security Guard Battallion, Company E.

Semper Fi!

trust in Blackwater, with a mix of Haliburton support... the best volunteer army U.S. money can buy!

[kimmy]

I'm not lying. It does, you completely disregarded my Al Gore anecdote. Why? Because it doesn't fit into your world view.

Shady's claim that the University of Ottawa students federation *banned* posters advertising Coulter's visit is easily substantiated.

Your response was to claim that you recall Al Gore posters being torn down too. Well,that's not actually a *ban*, is it. You're not even in the same ballpark.

-k

[waldo]

So it was their expressed purpose to make the UofO and Canada look like a repressive laughing stock?

Mission Accomplished!

buddy, you're certainly not reading the same yankee outlets I am... imagine that. It's actually quite refreshing to read the real disdain that thinking Americans have for the skank Coulter.

by the way, is that a real mission accomplished reference you're making... or one of those "just kidding" Dubya kind of mission accomplished pronouncements?

[kimmy]

you don't know who pulled the alarm it could've been coulters people or someone else entirely, it happens.

I don't know if you can be guilty of trespass in a public building through an open door, and it's certianly not evading security if there is no security guards at those doors...

A university building is not public property.

-k

[wyly]

A university building is not public property.

-k

public property n. property owned by the government or one of its agencies, divisions, or entities. Commonly a reference to parks, playgrounds, streets, sidewalks, schools, libraries and other property regularly used by the general public.

I can go into any campus in the country it's public, if I want to attend a lecture or event I can pay a fee but it's still public..

[kimmy]

public property n. property owned by the government or one of its agencies, divisions, or entities. Commonly a reference to parks, playgrounds, streets, sidewalks, schools, libraries and other property regularly used by the general public.

I can go into any campus in the country it's public, if I want to attend a lecture or event I can pay a fee but it's still public..

That it is publicly owned doesn't mean all or even part is open to the public.

If you want to test your theory, why don't you go down to your local elementary school and hang out in the hallway. While the police are cuffing you, explain to them that you have the right to be there since it's public property.

Many areas of a university campus are open to the public, and many more areas are accessible to the public provided you look like you belong there... but it is incorrect to assume that you have a right to be at any place on any publicly owned piece of property at any point in time.

I understand the point but you're seeing it from the wrong point of view...

having no tolerance for the intolerant, and that's a bad thing?...no, that's a good thing and I'm happy to be include myself as one, I will never ever tolerate racists/bigots/Nazi's ...

You probably don't even appreciate the irony.

-k

[Alta4ever]

public property n. property owned by the government or one of its agencies, divisions, or entities. Commonly a reference to parks, playgrounds, streets, sidewalks, schools, libraries and other property regularly used by the general public.

I can go into any campus in the country it's public, if I want to attend a lecture or event I can pay a fee but it's still public..

You *are* so full of it not all schools are public we do have private schools in this country.

Edited March 26, 2010 by Alta4ever