THERE’S NO ROOM FOR THOUGHT POLICE

I apologize in advance for sending out so many editorials (back to back), since I’m certain that many, if not most people receive more than enough opinions from people who believe they have something important to say.

At least with Galganov.com, you can simply remove yourself from the Broadcast Email if you think that you’re being inundated.

THE DONALD STERLING ISSUE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM:

The reason why I’ve written THREE consecutive editorials (including this one) about this Donald Sterling (LA Clippers owner) incident . . . is because it involves the very CORE of what I stand for – AND WHAT I STAND AGAINST.

Donald Sterling, by all accounts is a dreadful human being, but this issue has far more to do with FREEDOMS, than it does with his racist attitude. From everything I’ve read and heard about this man, he is as scummy as it gets, which is probably best illustrated by his abhorrent choice in girlfriends.

THIS WHOLE SORDID EPISODE IS ABOUT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION:

NONE OF WHAT’S GOING ON has anything to do with the miserable character of Donald Sterling, but everything to do with our most basic FREEDOMS, which is our FREEDOM to think the way we want, our FREEDOM to have PRIVATE conversations, and our FREEDOM to make our opinions public.

In Canada . . . FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS UNDER CONSTANT ATTACK:

As I write this, there is a war being waged between our ELECTED majority (Conservative) government, and the UN-ELECTED Supreme Court, which has repeatedly come on the side of RESTRICTING FREEDOM of Expression, of which I’ve fought several cases all the way to the Supreme Court in Canada, which after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars that spanned several years, we were either dismissed as if our demand for GUARANTEED FREEDOMS were no big deal . . . or we won Pyrrhic victories that amounted to no wins at all.

Not that long ago (2 years), a government appointed LEFTIST apparatchik, euphemistically called the Canadian HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, had its wings severely clipped by the Conservative (Stephen Harper) government.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission was established by a far LEFTIST, who was an America and Israel Hating Quebec politician, named Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who became Prime Minister of Canada from 1968 through 1984 with a brief interruption in between.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission, with branches in each of the TEN Canadian provinces was initially established to protect visible minorities from Racial, Gender, and Cultural discrimination in matters of hiring, admission to hotels, restaurants, clubs, housing . . . etcetera. All of which were commendable objectives.

But, like virtually all government agencies . . . these Canadian Human Rights Commissions grew like a CANCER, metastasizing through the Public Body, giving themselves powers far beyond anything the government intended

And without anyone to stop these government appointees, they confirmed upon themselves the STATUS of mind and speech police, to the point that if something someone said, even as an opinion that hurt someone’s feelings, predominantly Moslems, the COMMISSION exercised judicial powers that are even denied to Canada’s Courts

HOW BAD DID IT GET?

I won’t delve into all the details of the excesses of the Human Rights Commissions, because that would take several book volumes, other than to say, that what these quasi-judicial agencies did, and how they did it, was absolutely CONTRARY to any NORMAL view of a FREE society that is built upon THREE critical JUDICIAL beliefs.

1 –  FREEDOM of Expression is absolute; In the USA it is the First Amendment. In Canada it is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Unless the use of this RIGHT creates a danger or defamation.

2 – In the North American Judicial context . . . all people are innocent until proven guilty. And all people are accorded the RIGHT to face their accuser(s) and cross-examine witnesses.

3 – Every person in North America has the RIGHT to professional legal representation.

BUT NOT TO CANADA’S HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS.

Through these Human Rights Commissions . . . these three abovementioned basic RIGHTS, which we hold dearly, are denied by the Commissioners, who are nothing more than political APPOINTEES, many of whom have no judicial experience, but were appointed because of their LEFTIST philosophies.

HOW MUCH DAMAGE DID THESE COMMISSIONS CREATE?

People who ran afoul of these Commissions, of which there were many, MOST of whom were Conservatives, who said something that offended an individual or group, found themselves CRUSHED financially with reputations ruined.

The BEST . . . or perhaps the WORST two examples of these repugnant excesses, were the Human Rights Commission versus Mark Steyn, an extremely well known Canadian/American journalist/broadcaster, and Ezra Levant, also a well known Canadian journalist/broadcaster, who in separate charges were forced to defend themselves against perceived insults to Islam.

In the final analysis, because Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant went after the Human Rights Commission as hard . . . and perhaps even harder than the Human Rights Commission went after them, the Human Rights Commission’s AFFRONT to FREEDOM of Expression was finally exposed to the point that compelled the Conservative government of Canada to cut them off at the knees.

In Israel . . . FREEDOM OF “FREE” MEDIA IS UNDER JUDICIAL ATTACK:

Israel’s most popular Newspaper, the American owned (Sheldon Adelson) Conservative Israel Hayom, which is an Internet and print FREEBIE, is cleaning the clock of all LIBERAL Israeli publications.

So, instead of competing, the LEFTIST papers, along with LEFTIST politicians are trying to ban FREE publications.

In America . . . THE LEFT IS TRYING TO SILENCE CONSERVATIVE CAMPAIGN DONORS:

New York Senator Chuck Schumer, is doing all that he can to pass legislation to restrict SPECIFIC political donations, ONLY because Conservatives receive much more money from grass-root supporters, than do LIBERALS, who feed upon UNIONS, government largesse, LEFTIST Hollywooders, and self-hating Americans like George Soros.

ONLY A FREE SOCIETY CAN QUOTE MY SOCIAL SCIENCE 101 PROFESSOR:

When I was in university, which was a very long time ago (late 1960’s), the professor who taught Social Science 101, was by today’s standard a real LEFTIST. I remember very little of what he said during the course except for one thing . . .

“I might not agree with what you have to say. But I will defend your right to say it to my death.”

It would do very well for the government, the media, and the PEOPLE to grasp this most precious gift a FREE society can possess . . . that is, if we wish to continue being a FREE society.

I HAVE GREAT REASON AND JOY TO CELEBRATE:

In a totally unrelated event, that has nothing whatsoever to do with politics and social issues, but has everything to with an issue extremely close to my heart.

TODAY, MAY 1^st . . . is the FORTY-FIRST year that Anne and I have been married.

I’m the luckiest guy on the planet.

Best regards . . . Howard Galganov