Yeah: Killing U.N. Workers

by Little Miss Attila on April 2, 2011

Free speech means we have to let people be assholes, sometimes.

And, “there are assholes halfway around the world” is not sufficient justification for murder.

You can say, “gee, I wish there were fewer assholes.” And you can even say, “I wish the assholes would be less assholistic.” In private life (rather than civic life), you can discourage assholism.

But what you can’t say is, “assholism is a justification for homicide.”

Because the only thing worse than putting the assholes in charge of public discourse is putting the murderers in charge of public discourse.

UPDATE: Bruce gets it right.

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April 3, 2011 at 1:08 pm

{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

ponce April 2, 2011 at 11:24 pm

But what you can’t say is, “assholism is a justification for homicide.”

Any word on whether any of these killers will be prosecuted or go free?

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Darrell April 3, 2011 at 7:44 am

assholism is a justification for homicide

I’m thinking of you, ponce.

Still thinking . . .

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ponce April 3, 2011 at 9:53 am

Like I said, you never disappoint, Purrel,

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Little Miss Attila April 3, 2011 at 10:10 am

{Don’t make me pull this car over.}

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vanderleun April 3, 2011 at 1:10 pm

“Any word on whether any of these killers will be prosecuted or go free?”

In a good world, these killers would have their section of the gene pool drained and capped with radioactive rubble. We’ll get a winner one of these days.

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ponce April 3, 2011 at 1:20 pm

Well,

I’d say if the Afghan government doesn’t prosecute these killers, it’s a sign that it’s time for America’s involvement to end there.

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Jewel April 3, 2011 at 5:39 pm

The Afghan Gubmint is in large part responsible for the massacre, since it was Karzai beating the drum for wanting Jones prosecuted for something that isn’t a crime in this country.
Pretext is postmodern for justification.

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C_Before_E April 3, 2011 at 5:47 pm

It was willfully blind of that stupid preacher to think something terrible would not happen after burning the Koran. The reaction to the Mohammed cartoons a few years ago could tell you that.

Can someone influential, conservative and religious sit down with this man and have a quiet talk asking for good sense?

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Little Miss Attila April 3, 2011 at 9:46 pm

I’m sure it’s been attempted. I imagine he didn’t listen since he is none of those things.

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Jewel April 3, 2011 at 8:41 pm

I think we need to turn the tables and point out that this same Koran is used to preach incitement against Jews and infidels regardless of what some preacher did. The slaughter of Christians and Jews in Muslim lands has been going on for nearly 14 centuries, and now they say, with seriousness, “See what you made us do?”
Not buying it. As I said: Pretext is postmodern for justification. We need to address that evil.
It’s the western press agreeing with the savages that pisses me off.

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Little Miss Attila April 3, 2011 at 9:51 pm

The correct response WRT the speech issue is: nothing. Nothing.

We pressure the Afghans to prosecute the murders and the incitement thereto. We insist that there is no relationship between an act of speech here and the violence there. We point out that another pretext would have been found, irrespective.

There’s no need to discuss the Koran, because this has nothing to do with the Koran. This has to do with freedom of speech, which–with a few narrow exceptions–does not depend on whether we agree with, or approve of, its content.

Period.

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