Ann Coulter Hears a Houle

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They shut down her speech Tuesday in the People’s Republic of Ottawa, but the Canadian Thought Police couldn’t prevent her from filing her latest column:

This marks the first time I’ve ever gotten hate mail for something I might do in the future.
Apparently Canadian law forbids “promoting hatred against any identifiable group,” which the provost, Francois A. Houle advised me, “would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges.”
I was given no specific examples of what words and phrases I couldn’t use, but I take it I’m not supposed to say, “F— you, Francois.” . . .
Both writer Mark Steyn and editor Ezra Levant have been investigated by the Human Rights Commission for promoting hatred toward Muslims.
Levant’s alleged crime was to reprint the cartoons of Mohammed originally published in a Danish newspaper, leading practitioners of the Religion of Peace to engage in murderous violence across the globe. Steyn’s alleged crime was to publish an excerpt of his book, “America Alone” in Maclean’s magazine, in which he jauntily described Muslims as “hot for jihad.”
Both of them also flew jet airliners full of passengers into skyscrapers in lower Manhattan, resulting in thousands of deaths. No, wait — that was somebody else. . . .
The police called off my speech when the auditorium was surrounded by thousands of rioting liberals — screaming, blocking the entrance, throwing tables, demanding that my books be burned, and finally setting off the fire alarm. . . .
Local reporters couldn’t make out what the crowd was chanting, but it was something about “Molson” and a “sled dog.” . . .

Read the whole thing. Also read Ezra Levant:

Where did this abusive student culture come from? What explains the complete lack of tolerance for different opinions? . . .
No one less than the vice-president had signalled that the ancient academic ideals of free discourse had been replaced with conformity, political correctness, censorship — and even the threat of criminal prosecution.
Houle’s letter was like a starter pistol for radical students, who went from tearing down Coulter posters to organizing their rampage. Really, other than tactics, how different was their approach to censorship than Houle’s?

Mark Steyn:

The quality of your argument is only important if you want to win by persuasion. But it’s irrelevant if you want to win by intimidation. . . .
Fatima Al Dhaher, the poor wee thing traumatized by Ann Coulter’s camel joke, turns out to be a Jew-hater who wants to eliminate the State of Israel, and belongs to a group who regard Jews as “subhuman” “zionazis/kikeroaches“. But that’s too complicated for the media to fit into their Sesame Street narratives.

Kathy Shaidle at Five Feet of Fury has much, much more. Coulter speaks tonight in Calgary, where security has been “significantly augmented.” Those concerned about “hate” should ask themselves why a syndicated columnist should need as much security on a Canadian campus as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got when he spoke at Columbia University. (Hint: Coulter doesn’t have a nuclear weapons program.)

Her American fans who wish to welcome Ann back to the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave should hop a flight to Vegas, baby! Coulter will speak at Saturday’s Tea Party Express event in Hendersonville, Nevada. And I’ll be flying out to Vegas tonight.

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Allow Valley Of The Shadow To Retort

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by Smitty

We’ve heard enough Lefty sob stories, with occasional factual basis, to last a lifetime. VotS has a multi-part, personal series.

Peering into the future, my guess is that we will discover that socialized medicine is the ecological fallacy writ large. What do I mean? That humans ultimately remain individuals, and the one-size-fits-all approach, which may not be as bad in smaller populations, is likely to suck much pond water by the time DC is done wrecking it.

As I was trying to avoid discussing it in detail with colleagues, in the name of workplace peace, I said that it would be great if history supported experiments, and there was a way to let the nationalization of RomneyCare play out, without destroying the nation.

VotS promises to offer an interesting datum, alongside the other 3.14×10^7 data points, on why Americans must increase the political resistance against this awful idea.

Goldberg And Instapundit

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by Smitty

Two of your favorite heads heading down the byways of favorite topics together. Jonah was most interesting in discussing the reluctance of the establishment, mostly media (but I’ll venture that his point extends to the GOP proper) to get overly attached to the Tea Parties. Goldberg doesn’t put it this way, but it’s basically a dating relationship right now that needs more time before commitment.

Insty, in a move that will shock many, comes out in favor of elitism! He seems to mean the simple pursuit of individual excellence, rather than the sort of condescending ‘elitist c*nt‘ that no one can stand.

Another Thoughtful Outing From JeffG

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by Smitty

Jeff over at Protein Wisdom writes a post called “Unlimited Semiosis and the crisis of interpretation“. He quotes David Harsanyi in the Denver Post:

As a layman, I have little business wading into the intricacies of constitutional law


As a taxpayer, and therefore a member of We The People, you have every right to wade in. All non-sheep must wade in. I suppose you can be a sheep, if you want. “the intricacies of constitutional law,” while accurate, is also indicative of failure. Otherwise, the intricacy piles up, passes the Byzantine horizon, and is crushed under the weight of Orson Welles:

Furthermore, you don’t want your military officers to think themselves unqualified to wade into Constitutional questions. While I have no doubt that the current POTUS will uphold his oath fully and in all particulars, there are worrisome precedents being laid, at a medium pace.  Who knows when the country could elect the American equivalent of Caligula?

When you attend Tea Parties, I think you note a healthy military presence. I can’t say that it exceeds the normal society/military ratio, but I’ll venture that those who’ve sworn to ‘support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic’ are deeply curious about this Progressivism that seems to have eaten much of the political vitality of the country.

It is very deeply offensive to have spent several years in uniform calmly defending the First Amendment rights of people to beclown themselves in all manner of ways, and then have spurious charges of raaaaacism thrown at me, yes me (!) by a despicable media.  I was at the event, and can vouch for the spirited and friendly outpouring of political expression.

The Constitution (as amended) is something I hold several notches below the Bible itself in importance. Sure, I argue for a proper striking of the portions that have proven bad ideas, like the 16th and 17th Amendments, but don’t expect that to occur other than through Article 5.

The “intricacies” that have cropped up in Constitutional law, like dandelions in the lawn, need to be minimized.  Complexity only helps the gatekeepers, not We The People.  Complexities often represent a slow-motion hijacking of liberty by a pack of sophists.  Goldstein concludes:

At this point, the best thing to do as a society looking to reground itself would be to hold another Constitutional convention. But I just don’t see that happening, what with all the cool HD channels that people now get as part of their basic cable or satellite packages — and what with all the “free” stuff we’re now asking our children and grandchilden to pay for…

Just as our false Moses is marching us from the Promised land to the Progressive Egypt, where everyone has a job on a BFD public works project awaiting them, a bottom-up distributed collection of Mosesses (?) can eventually make an Article 5 convention possible. We have to demand it.

The Progressive project has broken the country in a century. By the power of the Internet, I think we can un-break the country more quickly. But it will require much more ownership by We The People. The fact that you haven’t had 97 miles of sunshine blown up the fundament means that, rather than fannying about, you may add common sense to the discussion.

Questions Regarding Tuesday’s 20 Pen Marathon

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by Smitty

Cassy has a bravo zulu post* about Obamacare, specifically, the GOP Senate strategy:

It’s not just a game. It’s strategy, and it was a brilliant move by Senate Republicans. Think about it: if the reconciliation bill is changed in any way, it has to go back to the House for yet another vote. And the Democrats want this passed right now. However, this amendment puts them in a sticky situation: vote against it, and you’ve just said that you want to give Viagra to kiddie rapists. The campaign ads would practically write themselves.

OK, so, Tuesday’s deed was an act of legislatus interruptus. The proper Article I motion of law has been altered here. BHO has signed what should be a final product. As Congress does this reconciliation dance, and another bill emerges, what does it mean?

  • Will there be another score of pens expended to re-sign the dastardly document?
  • What if a poison pill were inserted, such that BHO felt compelled to veto the thing?  Would the veto cover the full monty, or just the edits after Tuedsay?
  • Can Congress hold the Executive accountable for details in the bill that differ after the first signing, or are they as meaningful as the Stupak EO?

The Constitution and the relatively known process were good enough. The collaboration of the 111th Congress and Obama Administration on creative, hyper-partisan, ultra-pragmatic work-arounds for the established process are indicators of a process in dire need of re-affirmation.

*Bravo Zulu

Karl Rove, the Bush Dynasty, and the GOP Elite’s Push for ‘Immigration Reform’

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Steve Sailer attempts to explain the otherwise inexplicable disaster:

On the personal side, George and Barbara Bush employed a live-in Mexican maid, Paula Rendon, of whom W. has said, “I have come to love her like a second mother.” He went on to employ another Mexican immigrant, Maria Galvan, to raise his two daughters. Younger brother Jeb married a Mexican girl, Columba Garnica, who had spent some years as an illegal immigrant in California.
Jeb and Columba’s son, George P. Bush, was such a natural politician and heir to the Bush dynasty that W., who nicknamed his father “41” (for being the 41st President) and himself “43,” called his nephew “44.”
So, from 43’s dynastic perspective, electing a new people in order to keep electing Bushes to the White House all made a certain grandiose, demented sense.
Yet, for Rove, who was supposed to be the brains of the operation, the motivations are murkier — other than sheer submissiveness toward his willful boss. . . .

Read the whole thing.