The story “The Man Without a Country” used to be standard reading matter for seventh graders. In fact, it was the first “real” book—as opposed to those tedious Dick and Jane readers—that I was assigned in school. It was exciting … Continue reading →
All of the following quotes from John Adams can be found here: “Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make good use of it. If you do … Continue reading →
I have continued to read Victor Klemperer’s two-volume diary I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years (I’ve written about the book before, here and here). Klemperer was in an unusual position in Germany. Although born a Jew, … Continue reading →
Perhaps you’ve noticed that the topic of free speech has been coming up again and again and again lately. The battle to protect it has taken on new urgency, in part because too many people appear to have forgotten what … Continue reading →
Mark Steyn has some obligatory reading on the “Yes, but…” reaction to the attack on Pam Geller, and he doesn’t mess around: The Washington Post offered the celebrated headline “Event Organizer Offers No Apology After Thwarted Attack In Texas”, while … Continue reading →
I understand the temptation to pass hate speech laws. But there’s a temptation to do a lot of things that are wrong and lead to an unacceptable loss of liberty. We are not free to do anything that harms another … Continue reading →
Yesterday I wrote a post discussing certain liberals who say Pam Geller spouts hatred but who defend her right to do so. Some of them don’t even feel the need to give quotes or details in order to illustrate this … Continue reading →
I’ve written a lot about the Pamela Geller incident and the reaction among pundits and the press, because it seems to me it has brought out some disturbing, although important, truths. The main one is how many people are willing … Continue reading →
The ruling greatly increases the pressure on Congress to make significant changes””or end outright””the surveillance program. The judges not only ruled against the phone program, but sharply criticized many of the legal theories upon which the U.S. government has built … Continue reading →
Another Tweeter with an itchy Twitter trigger finger* learns that pausing to think before tweeting might be wiser: Chris Cuomo is co-host of CNN’s morning show. He’s also a former law and justice correspondent for ABC News. He has a … Continue reading →
This is certainly interesting: two of the surviving Charlie Hebdo cartoonists say they are very very different from Pam Geller and her group, organizers of the free speech event in Texas that was threatened by two gunman. Geller organized the … Continue reading →
I was curious to learn more about Eric O’Keefe, the man who fought back by bringing suit against the John Doe investigations in Wisconsin. It seemed to me he must be a stalwart sort. And then a few days later … Continue reading →