This isn’t Pat Condell‘s first appearance here. Most folks already know that he’s one opinionated sonofabitch by any standards. Like him or hate him (and I’ve done both), the man does say what’s on his mind and if his YouTube channel is any indication, he’s got a lot on his melon. But then, what can you expect from a guy whose website starts off with “Hi, I’m Pat Condell. I don’t respect your beliefs and I don’t care if you’re offended. Cheers.”
Well, some folks would prefer that Pat just put a cork in it and would like to stick it in themselves, if at all possible. In case you hadn’t heard, one of his recent rants, a little something called “Welcome to Saudi Britain” got yanked from YouTube:
However YouTube, which is owned by the internet search engine giant Google, has removed the video from its site because of “terms of use violation”.
It had been watched more than 40,000 times in the 24 hours after Condell uploaded it.
YouTube has also threatened to disable his entire account if he commits “additional violations”.
A spokesman for the website said: “YouTube has clear policies that prohibit inappropriate content on the site, such as pornography, gratuitous violence or hate speech. Our community understands the rules and polices the site for inappropriate material. When users feel content is inappropriate they can flag it and our staff then review it as quickly as possible to see if it violates our Terms of Use. If users repeatedly break these rules we disable their accounts.”
Surprise, surprise, the net community and others went apeshit over this kind of censorship. Within hours, copies of the vid were all over OhNoYouDontTube and — surprise, surprise, again — YouTube caved and let the damn thing be. Here’s Pat’s take on the whole kerfuffle:
And, of course, what would this post be without the little rant that started the whole big stink in the first place?
(or maybe it’s just that my mind is on my son’s first game of the season today and he’s all bugged that they started him off as left guard in all the practices but have now shifted him further to the left all of a sudden so he’s trying to get his head into a completely new space with next to no notice and besides, being moved to the left in any fashion, especially when it’s not your idea, really sucks even more than a run-on sentence…)
… so I guess that I’ll get back to something that I’ve been neglecting a little bit lately: the dastardly, conniving, rights-ravaging HLCs and their Section 13 sycophants and the Stalinist show trials they love so much (a little thanks to Kathy for bringing this back into my melon). What really gnaws at my gnuts about that post is the complete and utter heap of seaming bovine byproducts that Iggy decided to hack up on the rug in response to an email:
…thanks for your message about Keith Martin’s proposal. It blindsided the party, so we’re still working past that problem to look at the merits. I don’t want a free speech chill, but I also don’t want open season on minorities. So Im still working on it.
HUH???
First of all, it’s in the name of these so-called “vulnerable minorities” that Stalag Section 13 is being abused in the first place. Being white seems to put a bullseye on your ass when this bunch is around. Open season, my lily-white ass…
Second, as Kathy pointed out, Section 13 has turned into a one-man band in the last few years. Little Dickie Warman has turned the whole damned CHRC into his own personal cash cow. Being the most thin-skinned sonofabitch in Canada pays pretty good, from what I hear.
So why is it that so few people seem to know about this? Hell, even the last few calls I’ve gotten from the Conservative Party were (except for the first guy) by people who, while they were nice enough, hadn’t a friggin’ clue what it was that I was so steamed up about! I try to give them the Reader’s Digest version, because I understand that they have a job to do and need to get on with it, but I still get the feeling that most of them are left scratching their heads.
The main reason for this was, no doubt, the utter silence that emanated from the national media on the subject. After all, who really gives a rat’s ass if some neo-nazi kook gets himself battered from pillar to post through the legal system? Is that really news? Is it going to sell any papers? Not likely.
Well, all that changed when McLean’s — the much-beloved “Canada’s National News Magazine®” — found themselves in the gunsights of not one, not two, but three of these little Thought Police commissions. Ah, okay… now there’s something wrong. Had themselves a little Martin Niemöller / road to Damascus kind of moment there, I guess. Yeah, well; whatever it takes to get ’em finally talking.
But does anybody think that this will stop at McLean’s? I mean, really? Barbara Kulaszka — one of Marc Lemire’s lawyers — doesn’t think so, and has a no-bullshit warning for anyone who thinks that It Can’t Happen To Themâ„¢:
Barbara Kulaszka, a lawyer for Mr. Lemire, told the tribunal that the mainstream media paid no attention to unfairness of Section 13 complaints until Macleans magazine columnist Mark Steyn was targeted by a Muslim group earlier this year.
“Every religion is going to start using it,†she warned. “Just look at the first Muslim complaint in 30 years. Everyone went nuts. The media woke up, and said: ‘It isn’t just Ernst Zundel and his creepy right-wingers being attacked. They are going to come after us.’
“You’re going to be caught in the cross-hairs,†she cautioned.
Translation: They might not be bothering you — YET — but they WILL come for you; and who will be left to speak up?
And you — yes YOU, sitting there in front of your computer, all nice and comfy — pay attention:
Your turn is coming. Sooner or later, they will get around to you. Totalitarianism is a hungry animal, it needs to be fed regularly, and when it runs out of its usual food, it turns elsewhere. Mark my words: sooner or later, YOU WILL BE NEXT.
It’s just a matter of time.
PS-
In case you need some sort of recap about why we need to get rid of these Stalinist show trials, here it is:
They only support Leftist causes (sound familiar?).
The complainer gets all costs paid while the accused is forced to pay out of pocket (again: familiar?).
The very process itself IS a punishment.
The conviction rate is 100%!! (No, I’m not making that up) I don’t think even the Gestapo managed to pull that one off.
Ah, fer the love of… Some days, I just wonder if I understand anything at all.
I know that I promised yesterday that I’d have some footage of PM Harper’s appearance in London last night. Things went south from the get-go. Cam battery was deader than Elvis so I had to resort to using my phone (lovely quality, that). Then, when I tried to upload the damned thing to YouTube, it croaked because the vid was too long.
Not to worry, though, I’m not done yet. I’ll try to post the raw files later today and see if that works. (I apologize ahead of time for the crappy quality but, like I said, it was done with a phone…)
11:00 – Turner Trounced
Dang. The problem with staging a stunt is, when you don’t let the crew in on the joke, you might just get caught…
And to think that some folks still have it in their heads that the PM made a mistake by losing that loose cannon… Go figure.
19:05 – Update: AITGWN has more. this poor bastard just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper…
12:20 – Okay, let’s try this
Alright, I got the files uploaded to the server so let’s see how this works. It’s in two parts and, due to a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo that I’m not going to get into right now, it might or might not play properly in your browser. Sorry about that.
If they won’t play in your browser, the direct links are here, for the first part and here, for the second part. They’re in the .3GP format, so you’ll need something like QuickTime to play them. Again, sorry for the quality but it’s what I had to work with… 🙁
12:30 – Update to this: Okay, that didn’t work worth crap. Trying to embed the vids here made a mess of things and slowed down the loading of this post to a crawl. Sorry folks, but it looks like the links are as good as it gets…
13:05 – They’re still out there
Lest we forget about the malevolent HRCs in our midst, the National Post has an article yesterday by Joseph Brean to remind us:
The foremost legal precedent for deciding these cases is the 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision about the neo-Nazi activist John Ross Taylor, in which Section 13 was held to be a justifiable violation of the Charter right to free expression.
It defined hate messages as those expressing “unusually strong and deep-felt emotions of detestation, calumny and vilification.”
Simon Fothergill, a lawyer for the Attorney-General of Canada, said Mr. Lemire’s challenge of Section 13 is “relitigation” of settled law, and amounts to “harassment” of the government, which won the Taylor case by a 4-3 decision. A decade later, in 2001, it amended Section 13 to include the Internet.
[…]
Mr. Fothergill answered that if Section 13 puts a chill on public discourse, it is only to be around the fringes of hate speech, and that this is not “a terribly bad outcome.”
“A little bit of chilling … is tolerable,” he said.
“TOLERABLE?” Is this asshole utterly out of his God damned mind??? And why the hell haven’t we heard so much as a peep out of ANY party on this subject so far in the campaign? Too uncomfortable an an issue, perhaps? Tough shit, bud; you wanna be in charge, you have to have the balls to do what needs to be done! And God knows, these things need to be reeled in.
Nest time some vote-hunting blowhard (from whatever party) bangs on your door, be sure to find out where they stand on this issue, because it’s just going to get worse if we don’t tackle it NOW.
13:22 – Another update: How’s this for a coincidence? I just got me a call from Steven at the CPC’s fundraising dept. What are the odds?Once again, the Tories were hoping for a buck or two to help out with the campaign. He was a nice enough guy (not as knowledgeable as Fred was on the issue, but still nice) but I had to tell him the same thing I’ve told the last four people that called me: No action on HRCs, no money from me.
17:49 – Holy crap!
I agree with Warren Kinsella. 😯 No, really, I actually DO. Yes, you heard me right. And don’t look at me like that.
I don’t know how it happened, either, but there it is. And it’s not just on one thing, strangely enough; I agree with him on a whole bunch of stuff. Like:
Things are going badly for the Lieberal campaign
Free advice is worth what you pay for it
Warren is a has-been
I guess it just goes to show you, even a blind squirrel finds a nut some days.
18:10 – Practicing what he preaches
Say what you want about Steffy Dion, he sure does practice what he preaches. He’s always going on and on about how we should do this and that for the environment and, lo and behold, Steffy turns out to be one dead serious recycler. Trusty Tory has the goodies:
That’s right, folks, the old 1993 election campaign promise. This goes hand in hand with Dion’s continued election campaign against Brian Mulroney!
But, hang on a second. Didn’t Paul Martin promise this in the 2004 campaign? See for yourself.
Recycle, recycle, recycle! Because it’ll actually happen this time. They really, really mean it. Besides, it’s not as if the Green Shaftâ„¢ is earning them any love…
23:23 – Ker-SPLAT
Coincidence? Poetic justice? Prophecy? You tell me…
MONTREAL – Stephane Dion’s aging plane was forced to make an emergency landing on its way to London tonight in what Liberals hope doesn’t become a symbol of the party’s faltering campaign.
The leased 29-year-old Boeing 737 was en route to London from Sherbrooke, Que., when it made an unexpected stop shortly after 8 p.m. at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport.
On the bright side, at least I don’t have to put up with that waffling weasel in London now. 😉
Where the hell is Fife talking about? Harbour Grace or Harare?? I know that a) I have a tendency to go off half-cocked sometimes and b) these are unproven allegations but let’s be serious here, folks; if these accusations have any merit to them, we have some serious problems with our democratic rights in Newfoundland! It’s one thing for a Premier of a province to bitch and moan about a Prime Minister and put his political capital into opposing the PM’s campaign, but this kind of bullshit is beyond the pale…
It seems that voters in Newfoundland are being intimidated and threatened with retaliation against their persons and businesses if they vote Conservative, donate to the Tories, or otherwise display any support for the CPC! NO, I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!!
From Hunter’s post:
High praise goes out to CTV’s Robert Fife for this report [for the record, I agree -D]. He listened to the people of Newfoundland, and understood the seriousness of what they were saying.
Joanne over at Blue Like You broke this story on blogs, and she has the links to the CTV site that will give you the full story. She has the video link to Jim Morgan backing up what Robert Fife said. It is worth the listen!
What I’m waiting for now, is to see what the MSM does with this story. Are they going to howl this from the rooftops, or are they going to show themselves as being the Lieberal lapdogs that they are so often accused of being, and sweep some more Leftist dirt under the rug?
I don’t know about you, but I’ll be watching for this.
PS-
Dear Scumbags:
I understand that you’re awfully busy and otherwise occupied with trying to bugger about with the God-given right of Newfoundlanders to choose whoever they damned well please to represent them in our nation’s parliament but, if you could spare the time, could you please stop by and try to intimidate me?
Please? I’m feeling all left out and neglected here. Thank you for your consideration.
-Dennis
UPDATE
Looks like I’m behind the herd on this one, but I’m not going to complain. The more noise gets made, the better. Here’s what others have been saying:
“If You Run We’ll Ruin Your Father’s Businessâ€: Danny Williams – A Step To The Right “CTV Bob Fife is naming senior Conservative sources that are on the record saying that Danny Williams and his minions are launching an extensive campaign of fear and intimidation against anybody thinking about running for the Tories, or attending their rallies in Newfoundland.”
Tell Danny the Dictator what you really think of his ABC campaign – Right As Rain “Just before I head off to bed, I would like to encourage everyone to email Danny Williams to let him know in uncertain terms what you think of these allegations of bullying and intimidation.”
*Official* Danny Williams has been put on notice – The Hypocritical Oath “OPEN LETTER TO DANNY WILLIAMS: It is my belief that you and your government have not met the needs of Newfoundlanders in terms of developing new and sustainable industries to succeed the fisheries. Oil is not going to float your paper thin economy like that of Alberta; you simply do not possess the amount of reserves that they do. Invest in education and the development of your business community which, by the way, should consist of more than just three fish boat captains in St. John’s harbour and the local pub owner.”
Danny Mugabe Williams – SDA “Well, perhaps that’s unfair. We haven’t yet seen rampaging gangs of PC’ers raping and pillaging political opponents.”
All Hail Danny – Back Off Government! “Ok maybe he hasn’t reached Robert Mugage proportions – but with these news reports coming out of Newfoundland I would say the words “Friendly Dictator” definitely apply.”
Danny the Dictator? – Right As Rain “The allegations talked about by Bob Fife and Jim Morgan about Danny the Dictator’s actions in N.L should cause a great deal of concern amongst every party in this election.”
Ten and counting. It’s always nice to know that I’m not the only one who’s pissed.