Civil Rights and Wrongs

THE INTERNATIONAL FREE PRESS SOCIETY is a spin-off of the Danish Free Press Society. They took their name from the Society that was established in 1835 when the adherents of free speech feared encroachment by the State. The old Society was dissolved in 1849 in recognition of Denmark’s first democratic constitution that guaranteed the freedom of expression. Today, however, free speech is again being threatened, primarily by religious and ideological interests and international pressure groups. For this reason they have found is necessary to re-establish the Society. They have a policy statement for your perusal, here.

Well, their site notes the start of the trial of Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders on charges related to his political campaign to stop and reverse the Islamization of the Netherlands. The article, titled "The Trial of Geert Wilders: A Symposium" has the opinions of an array of legal experts, authors and journalists to reflect on this momentous event.

Maybe Mr. Wilders is guilty of being a sumbitch bigot, maybe he's not. Personally, I thought the cartoons were hilarious, and the idea that in the 21st century, that some people feel entitled to visit mayhem upon the cartoonists is an obscenity, and an obscenity worse than anything that could be drawn by a pen. Maybe the wogs really do start at Calais.