On assassinating freedom

The Washington Times ^ | 2-29-08 | Austin Ba

[JZelle]

In early February, Danish police launched a pre-emptive attack on terrorism when they arrested three men involved in a "terror-related assassination" plot. The cops carefully identified the men as "a 40-year-old Dane of Moroccan origin and two Tunisians."

The would-be murderers targeted 73-year-old Kurt Westergaard, an editorial cartoonist, and his 66-year-old wife, Gitte.

Think about it — a 73-year-old and 66-year-old. Visit two Danes that age, with names like Kurt and Gitte, and you expect a platter of Danish pastry. If Kurt has an edge to him (and fair bet he has one — after all, he's an editorial cartoonist), you might hear him satirize European politicians and their more imperious nostrums. Editorial cartoonists get paid to do this, slap down politicos and shibboleths — at least editorial cartoonists fortunate enough to live in democracies that respect the rule of law.

Why target Kurt and Gitte? Mr. Westergaard works for a Danish newspaper with guts, the Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten.

In the fall of 2005, the Jyllands-Posten published a dozen cartoons mildly satirizing political Islamism. Its editor argued many Muslim immigrants criticize Europeans and European liberalism but brook no counter-critique. The cartoons didn't purport to convey fact, but were opinion.

Four months after their publication, waves of coordinated violence erupted around the globe, riots organized by Islamist activists. Terrorists threatened the journalists and cartoonists with death.

There is a damning silence, however, reminiscent of the disgusting silence following Van Gogh's slaying. We've heard scarcely a peep of protest on the Westergaards' behalf from Hollywood and the so-called "literary world."

Why would these august industries, so dependent on the protection of free speech and free expression, fail to condemn this murderous form of anti-intellectualism?

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

“Why would these august industries, so dependent on the protection of free speech and free expression, fail to condemn this murderous form of anti-intellectualism?”

Liberalism is a suicidal form of mental illness?

[Red6]

What do you expect?

At least the authorities protected him.

Europe is willing to sell out their freedom, their rights, and their religion so that they can have “stability and security,” the cornerstone of socialism which promises this. Even in the US, the socialist or here we have "closet socialists" (They hide it with euphamisisms) the bottomline is promising security in some way: universal healthcare, promising universal schools, universal daycare and banning guns, etc. all for your security and stability. Those who walk down that road seldom keep their freedom, and eventually don’t even have their security anymore either. The European will self-censor, give away his rights, to the Islamist just like he does because of his security and guns, some of his freedoms for his social programs....... Many in Europe are essentially “appeasers” but they get very angry and they will scream if you as an American tell them that. You see, we won’t light bombs in their cities, we don’t hack off heads, or kidnap their kids and send them back in pieces through the mail; so with us, they will be very bold, sovereign, and remember they have rights and are someone beating their chest screaming.