The 2007 Muzzle Awards

Boston Phoenix media reporter Dan Kennedy hands out the 2007 Muzzle Awards, an exposition of attacks on speech "inspired by noted civil-liberties lawyer and Phoenix contributor Harvey Silvergate." Though New England-specific, Kennedy and his panel of civil libertarians manage to work in a few national names, like Massachusetts carpetbagger Mitt Romney ("Mitt Romney will say or do anything if he thinks it will help him become president," says Kennedy) and potential presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. Sample:

Here’s what Gingrich said last November during a speech at the Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment Awards dinner, in Manchester, New Hampshire, at which he conjured up the image of a nuclear attack: “My view is that either before we lose a city, or if we are truly stupid after we lose a city, we will adopt rules of engagement that we use every technology we can find to break up their capacity to use the Internet, to break up their capacity to use free speech, and to go after people who want to kill us, to stop them from recruiting people before they get to reach out and convince young people to destroy their lives while destroying us.”

Kennedy and Co. include an outrageous tale from Rhode Island College—the attempted muzzling of a campus pro-Choice group—though this story from our smallest state should have also made the list (It might be of too recent vintage).

Full story here.

Comments

:- | July 5, 2007, 4:23pm | #

"_________________ will say or do anything if he/she thinks
it will help him/her become president."

There, that's better.

Don Imus | July 5, 2007, 4:29pm | #

What the hell is "free speech"?

Warren | July 5, 2007, 4:42pm | #

JOHN McCAIN

D.A. Ridgely | July 5, 2007, 5:21pm | #

It's the kind you don't get paid for, "Don."

Dave | July 5, 2007, 5:29pm | #

Wow, Gingrich is so far off base, because nobody ever tries to hamper their enemy's communications in time of war.

I say we shouldn't break up the Jihadi's capacity to use the internet!
I say we shouldn't stop them from recruiting young people to kill themselves and us!

Better?

TLB | July 5, 2007, 5:31pm | #

A couple weeks ago, Weigel posted a snarky piece mentioning TedHayes, without mentioning this abrogation of his and others First Amendment rights. Perhaps Reason could support him instead of in effect supporting those on the other side:

la.indymedia.org/news/2006/04/154687.php

Ken | July 5, 2007, 5:59pm | #

Romney, world's biggest tool, rightly leads the pack.
Curious as to if these are affiliated or the same as the Muzzle awards the Thomas Jefferson Center for Free Speech hands out. They are usually well deserved as well.

Fluffy | July 5, 2007, 6:27pm | #

Nope, sorry, Dave.

If that was what he meant, he wouldn't have had to talk about getting rid of American Constitutional speech protections.

That speech was the moment when I decided that Newt was a rat bastard. I had hope for him up until that point. It turns out all that correspondence course American history lecture crap he'd spew about liberty and our Constitutional traditions was just bullshit to pad out the time on his speeches. Maybe it got him a higher speaking fee or something, I don't know.

Dave | July 6, 2007, 3:22am | #

Fluffy-
There must be a lot more to what he said than is shown in the excerpt above, because I don't see what you're talking about.