He lost me at the "not giving it any value" part. You have to admit, though, that the concept its roots firmly in America.
I keep up on world news a lot, and sometimes I'll mention something happening in another part of the world. I'm amazed at how many people seem to think that freedom of speech is a guaranteed right around the world. Given our tendency to be ethnocentric, I guess I shouldn't be.
I once made a comment in a business class about how Google had to censor some of their results in China. Several people were confused, asking, "But isn't that a violation of free speech?" This was an upper division class.
Kurt, click on the realclearpolitics link for the source of the quote, it will take you to the source, tell you about the two trials, and lead you to many other links.
The other day I was giving a speech in Washington and, in the questions afterwards, the subject of Little Mosque on the Prairie came up.
"Muslim is the new gay," I said. Which got a laugh. "That's off the record," I added. "I want a sporting chance of getting home alive." And I went on to explain that back in the nineties, sitcoms and movies began introducing gay characters who were the most likeable and got all the best lines, and that Muslims were likely to be the lucky beneficiaries of a similar dispensation. In both cases, the intent is the same: to make Islam, like homosexuality, something only uptight squares are uncool with.
There is a muslim woman from the UK who just got through to the finals on Last Comic Standing - she was very funny - I think it is because there is so much emotion now caught up in the whole Islam/West issue, and such a lack of humor from most of Islam - she says that in fact at one point. She had some good jokes, like she can't drink so she does extasy, since it is never mentioned in the Koran...
Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don't give it any value.
