Why I Signed The Michael Savage Petition
By Pirate Joe
21 November, 2009
It wasn’t easy. It was one of those times when you
find that you need to peel back the layers and probe the depths of your
core beliefs. Although I didn’t know it when I first heard his
(Savage’s) rants about being disallowed from entering England, I was
about to discover just how liberal I was; or indeed if I was truly a
liberal at all.
Free speech. Two small words that combine to make
one of the biggest phrases mankind has ever written, and one of the
primary guarantees that set this country so far above the rest.
It is also one of the core values of liberalism that I learned one day
(somewhere between childhood and adolescence) when I heard the phrase:
“I may not agree with what you say, but I’ll defend your right to say
it”. I remember a feeling of satisfaction upon hearing something that
made such perfect sense to me articulated.
I agree with about .002% of what Mr. Savage says on
his show, and 80% of it makes me sick. The rest is a murky signpost
pointing back to the Dark Ages.
It’s easy and yes, laudable to carry the banner of
free speech (and) rase your voice in noble protest when it’s one
of your political comrades getting the gag. Yet however good it feels,
it is no stress test of your philosophical conviction: “when I agree
with what you say, I’ll defend your right to say it” is tantamount to
standing for nothing at all. Freedom of speech cannot be selectively
applied: either everyone is free to speak or no one truly is.
Therein lies the test: can you stand on your beliefs
and carry that banner when it doesn’t
feel good? I did it, and I’m glad that I did. In so doing, I
reconnected with my core beliefs, and lent my name to the defence of
the principle that the Founding Fathers thought enough of to make the first amendment.
Do I think that Mr. Savage would do the same for me?
In a word, no.
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