Saturday, March 23, 2013

Cirque du So Lame: Update

So go figure, the NatPo ended up printing my letter. Here it is (scroll down to "Censorsing Ezra). And here's the one I posted yesterday, which I think you'll agree is better than the edited version:
I think Chris Selley lends far too much credence to Ontario's Attorney General's stated reason for not pursing a "hate speech" complaint against Ezra Levant--i.e. that it would turn into "a bit of a circus." The real reason why the nation's censors are reluctant to try to use state mechanism's to silence the likes of Levant and Mark Steyn (who, not by co-incidence, shoot from the right) is because they are too high-profile, too articulate and too damn mouthy. The censors tried to take them on--Levant by the Alberta "Human Rights" Commission; Steyn by the British Columbia "Human Rights" Tribunal--but learned to their dismay that instead of silencing them, the tables were turned and the human rights bodies themselves were made to look ridiculous.
 
No, censorship in Canada works far better when the people you want to stifle are nobodies from Nowheresville--the Whatcotts et all--who lack the wherewithal, both financial and intellectual, to defend themselves. And like all Star Chambers, it also functions better in the dark, where people cannot see its workings. Like him or loathe him, what Levant (and Steyn) did was shine the light of day on these ludicrous proceedings. Call it "a bit of a circus" if you'd like, but if it is, it is a Cirque du Soleil--a circus of sunshine.

6 comments:

Richard K said...

Excellent point

JR said...

I saw your excellent letter in the NP today.

It was along the same lines as a comment I posted online yesterday. Yours was much better, more complete, etc.

Blazingcatfur said...

Y u make good leter wit real words.

Anonymous said...

Happens all the time.

Xanthippa said...

Well said!

scaramouche said...

Thanks, all.