Post by pim on Oct 2, 2012 8:40:53 GMT 10
Free speech as an issue has been getting a bit of a run over the past few years. Firstly there's the Murdoch press and its campaign against the Gillard Govenment. Bob Brown calls it the "hate media". Secondly there's Alan Jones and his on-air, as well as off-air, diatribes against Julia Gillard, culminating in his own goal the other weekend in which he was hoist on his own petard at a Liberal Party function.
I have to pause here because doubtless a Liberal Party apologist will come onto the thread and attempt to spam it with accusations of slander and lies, and with declarations that the function at which Jones made his "died of shame" remarks was not an official Liberal Party function so attempts to link it to the Liberal Party are a vile, reprehensible, evil and diabolical attempt to slander the Liberal Party etc etc yadda yadda yadda. Let's face it folks, the event was chock-a-block full of Libs: Young Libs, Old Libs, aspirational Libs and Libs who'd made it by becoming front bench members in both state and federal parliament. Jones was speaking to an overwhelmingly Liberal audience. If the event had been made up of overwhelmingly Labor people and tasteless and egregious comments were being made about Tony Abbott's family, that same Liberal Party apologist would call down the wrath of God (Liberals seem to be big on God these days - they reckon He's on their side) on the Labor Party. End of digression. Back to the thread topic. What was it about? Ah yes, free speech ...
There's also the case of Cory Bernardi and his "bestiality" comments. In this case it was Tony Abbott who acted, invited Bernardi to fall on his sword and resign from his front bench position, and told him his comments were not so much bad but "undisciplined". "If ya wanna free lance", said Tone, "do it on the back bench!"
So free speech gets curtailed on both sides. It goes further: Cory Bernardi wants to invite the Muslim-basher extraordinaire and now largely discredited in his own country, Geert Wilders, to Australia to preach the snake oil of Muslim-hating. It's called "Islamophobia" but Skippy gets upset when you stick the suffix "-phobia" onto the end of a noun. Makes it too long and hard to say. So he has to think. Skippy doesn't like thinking. His head hurts 'cause he's got lotsa phobias of his own ... Anyhoo, the nasty Gillard Government, in a vile, reprehensible and diabolical assault on free speech, won't give Wilders a visa to enter Australia. Same with that revisionist Hitler-loving historian who denies the Holocaust ever happened. What's his name? Ah yes, David Irving. The assaults on free speech come from both sides of politics in the Irving case since Australian Governments of both persuasions - both Labor and Liberal - have refused the guy a visa to come here and spread his message of Holocaust denial.
So both sides of politics are into the business of muzzling free speech when it suits them. But today it's all being put to the test in the High Court and it's all over a case involving the Adelaide City Council preventing a pair of evangelical God-bothering Jesus freaks from subjecting shoppers in the city's Rundle Mall to loudspeaker-amplified religious harangues. It's been before the SA Supreme Court and it came down on the side of the god botherers and against the Adelaide City Council. In fact apparently the Baillieu Government in Victoria drew on that judgement to clear the Occupy people out of Spring Street in Melbourne. Now it's before the High Court.
This is an important case. There's a lot riding on it. Garfield, in his own inarticulate rock ape fashion, is all in favour of free speech. He reckons you should be able to say what you want. So if you're out in the crowds of Christmas shoppers - and it is that time of year again - he'd reckon that any dude with a sound system, a bible (or a koran?) and an electric guitar should be able to set up and shatter the air waves with "Jesus music" without going to ther local council for a permit.
Watch this space ... www.smh.com.au/national/preaching....1001-26vrk.html
I have to pause here because doubtless a Liberal Party apologist will come onto the thread and attempt to spam it with accusations of slander and lies, and with declarations that the function at which Jones made his "died of shame" remarks was not an official Liberal Party function so attempts to link it to the Liberal Party are a vile, reprehensible, evil and diabolical attempt to slander the Liberal Party etc etc yadda yadda yadda. Let's face it folks, the event was chock-a-block full of Libs: Young Libs, Old Libs, aspirational Libs and Libs who'd made it by becoming front bench members in both state and federal parliament. Jones was speaking to an overwhelmingly Liberal audience. If the event had been made up of overwhelmingly Labor people and tasteless and egregious comments were being made about Tony Abbott's family, that same Liberal Party apologist would call down the wrath of God (Liberals seem to be big on God these days - they reckon He's on their side) on the Labor Party. End of digression. Back to the thread topic. What was it about? Ah yes, free speech ...
There's also the case of Cory Bernardi and his "bestiality" comments. In this case it was Tony Abbott who acted, invited Bernardi to fall on his sword and resign from his front bench position, and told him his comments were not so much bad but "undisciplined". "If ya wanna free lance", said Tone, "do it on the back bench!"
So free speech gets curtailed on both sides. It goes further: Cory Bernardi wants to invite the Muslim-basher extraordinaire and now largely discredited in his own country, Geert Wilders, to Australia to preach the snake oil of Muslim-hating. It's called "Islamophobia" but Skippy gets upset when you stick the suffix "-phobia" onto the end of a noun. Makes it too long and hard to say. So he has to think. Skippy doesn't like thinking. His head hurts 'cause he's got lotsa phobias of his own ... Anyhoo, the nasty Gillard Government, in a vile, reprehensible and diabolical assault on free speech, won't give Wilders a visa to enter Australia. Same with that revisionist Hitler-loving historian who denies the Holocaust ever happened. What's his name? Ah yes, David Irving. The assaults on free speech come from both sides of politics in the Irving case since Australian Governments of both persuasions - both Labor and Liberal - have refused the guy a visa to come here and spread his message of Holocaust denial.
So both sides of politics are into the business of muzzling free speech when it suits them. But today it's all being put to the test in the High Court and it's all over a case involving the Adelaide City Council preventing a pair of evangelical God-bothering Jesus freaks from subjecting shoppers in the city's Rundle Mall to loudspeaker-amplified religious harangues. It's been before the SA Supreme Court and it came down on the side of the god botherers and against the Adelaide City Council. In fact apparently the Baillieu Government in Victoria drew on that judgement to clear the Occupy people out of Spring Street in Melbourne. Now it's before the High Court.
This is an important case. There's a lot riding on it. Garfield, in his own inarticulate rock ape fashion, is all in favour of free speech. He reckons you should be able to say what you want. So if you're out in the crowds of Christmas shoppers - and it is that time of year again - he'd reckon that any dude with a sound system, a bible (or a koran?) and an electric guitar should be able to set up and shatter the air waves with "Jesus music" without going to ther local council for a permit.
Watch this space ... www.smh.com.au/national/preaching....1001-26vrk.html
