by Jack Lee
“I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it” -Voltaire
This famous quote is the basis for what is often heralded as our most fundamental inalienable right, and why so many Americans were offended when England’s Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith (shown right), banned radio talk show host Michael Savage from travel to the misty isles.
Savage is well known for his provocative in your face style, frequently done as a sort of verbal assault on liberals, illegals and Islamic extremism. But, he has never advocated violence toward anyone. Sure, he’s called those in his cross hairs, islamofacists, morons, race baiters, criminals and fools. He’s mocked them relentlessly, but he has never crossed the line to threaten the welfare of anyone as far as I know.
Jacqui Smith’s decision to ban Savage from travel to the UK will lump him in with known terrorists who have not only advocated violence, but have done it. Her actions give rise to hypocrisy as Islamic extremists within England frequently protest and advocate the overthrow of UK’s government in favor of Sharia law. Not once has anyone in the UK been stopped from demanding the death of infidels or the crushing of western values for Islamic values; odd that this blatant hate speech has apparented escaped her scruitiny.
Home Secretary Smith recently published the names of 16 of 22 people banned from the country since October for allegedly “fostering extremism or hatred”. Banned with Savage are Russian gang members and a militant Israeli settler. Smith cited “public interest” reasons for not disclosing six of the names.
Savage may be a controversial figure, but Smith is no stranger to it either. The press calls her a Pocket Dictator for unilaterally imposing a number of oppressive restrictions on her fellow Brits, such as creating a central database that tracks all mobile phone and email/internet traffic. She introduced a bill to prohibit the photography of police officers and detain persons for up to 42 days without charging them. Such actions have lead to the mainstream British media comparing her actions to those undertaken by Joseph Stalin. Smith is currently under investigation for several illegal government reimbursement claims she said were a mistakes.
Savage was recently sued by CAIR, an Islamic group based in the US for his rebuking of Islamic organizations he said were nothing but fronts for funneling money to terrorists. In the past Savage has called the Holy Koran a book of hate and said the values of the Nation of Islam are wholly inconsistent with a free republic. This has outraged and offended many Muslim Americans. However, Savage successfully defended himself in court by claiming they might not want to hear what he had to say, but what he said was the truth and he has a protected right to say it. If there is one subject that both liberal and conservative American’s will agree on, it is that he does in fact have a right to free speech. And Muslims…they wouldn’t recognize free speech if it walked up and shook hands with them. Savage and I see I eye to eye on that one.
Since 2005, the United Kingdom has excluded 101 people for “unacceptable behavior, including animal rights activists, right-to-life supporters and others considered to be far-right conservatives. It remains to be seen if Smith’s ban on Savage will hold up once it goes before her boss, PM Gordon Brown.