Or is the tide turning altogether?
Here’s an update from the Michael Coren Show. I really like that one:
“It is difficult to have anything but contempt for weaklings who crave an intellectually “safe” environment in which nobody’s feelings are ever disturbed.‘
The calamity of politicization befell the university in the 1960s. Suddenly it was overrun with students who had never thought a thought in their lives and wanted to keep it that way. How efficiently they colonized the university Ann Coulter’s visit to Shame-On U reminds us. Â National Post
Check it out:
From the Globe & Mail:
The Coulter affair has revealed a worrying discrepancy between what universities practise and what they preach. In the classroom, professors talk about the paramount importance of free speech, with all that noble rhetoric about why wild and disagreeable ideas must be defended to the point of death. But outside class, the nervous administrators’ rules take over: Be nice, and please give no offence. More
Who would have thought? “Coulter reminded people free speech is important”…
Paul Berton/LFP
Guess what? We all got a pretty good education – or at least a refresher course – on freedom of speech, inciting hatred, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, hate law, racism, public relations crisis management, how to generate publicity, the important role of universities in society, common courtesy, media manipulation . . .
At the end of the week, we are all much wiser.
So did the media serve society well? Were we part of the solution or part of the problem?
You decide.
Shame on you, Ottawa
By MICHAEL COREN
Ann Coulter came to Canada last week to deliver three university lectures and to give a one-hour television interview on The Michael Coren Show.
And we all know what happened. Before she even set foot in the country, a vice-president of the University of Ottawa wrote to her with a warning, or perhaps threat, about how we treat people who offend the status quo in Canada:
“Our domestic laws delineate freedom of expression in a manner that is somewhat different than the approach taken in the United States. I therefore encourage you to educate yourself as to what is acceptable in Canada and to do so before your planned visit here. You will realize that Canadian law puts reasonable limits on the freedom of expression. For example, promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges.
“Canadian defamation laws also limit freedom of expression and may differ somewhat from those to which you are accustomed. I therefore ask you, while you are a guest on our campus, to weigh your words with respect and civility in mind. There is a strong tradition in Canada, including at this university, of restraint, respect and consideration in expressing even provocative and controversial opinions and urge you to respect that Canadian tradition while on our campus.”
Some tradition. The Ottawa speech did not take place because a gang of student protesters caused enough trouble for the local police to advise that the whole thing be called off. Which says a great deal about leftist thugs, weak cops and freedom of speech in Canada.
Coulter, of course, will use this to her advantage and thank goodness for that.
Her response was superb. “I intend to bring charges under your human rights laws for assuming that as a member of an identifiable group, conservatives, I’m likely to break the law.”
It won’t stick of course, but it doesn’t have to. The usual idiots on the left have played into her hands and provided Coulter with millions of dollars of free publicity.
She’s a bitingly witty woman who, contrary to what critics would like to believe, is unassuming and gracious. “Don’t say that”, she jokes, “it’ll destroy my reputation.” She also provokes as policy, “as a way,” she says, “to continue and create the conversation.”
On the killing of an abortionist, for example, she condemned the act but described it as, “not so much a murder as his termination in the 203rd trimester.” Shocking? Yes, but also logical. Spare me the notion that she is offensive. The very same people who have championed speakers at universities who call Jews child-murderers, Christians hateful bigots and conservatives sadistic morons now claim they’re hurt by Ann Coulter.
Which is most offensive — the 9/11 mass murder by Muslim fanatics or Coulter arguing that we ought to convert Muslim fanatics to Christianity? I am offended, therefore I am. I am offended, therefore I am Canadian. Or, if I’m Canadian, I’ll silence my critics.
Whatever you think of Coulter, you should weep at the national embarrassment that occurred in our nation’s capital this week. Let’s see what influence the tears have.
Read Michael Coren’s new blog here
