FYI: Pro-Denmark Rally Tomorrow in DC

Commentator Christopher Hitchens is organizing a pro-Denmark rally in defense of free speech for tomorrow in front the Danish embassy in Washington, DC. Details from Hitchens below:

Please be outside the Embassy of Denmark, 3200 Whitehaven Street (off Massachusetts Avenue) between noon and 1 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 24. Quietness and calm are the necessities, plus cheerful conversation. Danish flags are good, or posters reading "Stand By Denmark" and any variation on this theme (such as "Buy Carlsberg/ Havarti/ Lego").

I'm not generally one for demonstrations, but if I were in DC tomorrow I would strongly consider going.

Kudos to Sean Higgins at Investor's Business Daily for the link.

Comments

[KipEsquire]

The Danish government has formally apologized to Saudi Arabia for allowing the cartoons to be published and has assured the Muslim World League that they will take steps to prohibit "slander of religion" in the future.

I'll be damned if I'm going to rally for that.

[Ed]

Not true, Kip. The newspaper apologized, not the government. The government has (justly) maintained all along that it is not their responsibility to apologize for the actions of a private newspaper.

[JA$ON]

A demonstration to support a state? I'll pass.

Michelle Malkin hosted one of these recently as well. I'll hold out for the Reason Magazine Danish Beer Happy Hour.

[hepzeeba]

The newspaper did not apologize for printing the cartoons.

The newspaper apologized for offending the feelings of those who were hurt.

Big difference.

Bravo to Christopher Hitchens.

[Jaybird]

Rallying for free speech and looking like an impure Capital-L Libertarian vs. making a display of how I'm not going because that would make me look like an impure Capital-L Libertarian...

I'm afraid I'm going to have to pick the latter.

Looking like an impure Capital-L Libertarian is just too much of a cost.

I'm sure you impure Capital-L Libertarians won't understand that, however. Enjoy your little rally with your fellow Statists. Try not to vote for any Evangelical Republicans while you're out there!

[Ron Bailey]

Jaybird: If you don't tell a "state" that it's doing the right thing, it might forget to do it the next time. 🙂

[shecky]

Is anyone else getting a bit weary of the reaction to the reaction?

[pritesh]

Where is the rally for Darfur?

Just wondering.

[Stevo Darkly]

Is anyone else getting a bit weary of the reaction to the reaction?

That's starting to be my reaction to the reaction to the reaction.

I'm starting to get intoonfatigue.

By the way, I've come up with a way for cartoonists to make their points yet avoid similar conflicts in the future.

If the cartoon idea requires them to depict Mohammed, they should instead draw a robot -- a very obvious mechanical man, with bolts and rivits and steel plates -- in a burnoose. And add a disclaimer with an arrow pointing to the robot and saying, "This is obviously not Mohammed, but a robot that has been placed in this cartoon instead of Mohammed, out of respect for the Prophet and his followers. Nothing in this cartoon should be construed as reflecting upon Mohammed, his followers, or their faith, only upon this robot."

BTW, I don't think titles like "Piss Robot" or richly symbolic but misconstrued elephant dung on a collage titled "Not Particularly Holy, and Obviously It Would Be Meaningless to Call It a Virgin, Robot" would have stirred up as much uproar either.

[Josh Warren]

If I were anywhere near Hitchens demonstration, I'd be there. Unfortuantely, St. John's Newfoundland is
quite far away. Oh and one more thing: has anyone noticed this garbage some columnists and pundits are spouting called "freedom of speech comes with responsibilites"?

[anon]

I'll probably go if the rally also stopped at the Austrian embassy to protest their assult on freedom of expression.

[Douglas Fletcher]

I ate a danish for breakfast, if that helps. Though it was dry enough I think it might have come from Denmark.

[chthus]

I'm going to stop by tomorrow, it has the bonus of getting me out of the lab in the midday sun. I stopped by the little international flag spot in Baltimore today, to pick up something for the occasion. I didn't stock up on the Chinese and Philippino made Denmark products (I can scrape together some red and white clothing, rather spend my support dollars on havarti and Legos), but bought a little US/Danish flag lapel pin.

The best part was the ten minute conversation I had with the Jordanian owner about the goings on tomorrow and the whole affair. In the end, though we agreed to disagree on certain points, it was probably worth more than my presence tomorrow. Should still be interesting, though. I hope they're selling Carlsberg.

[Trey]

I considered standing in front of the Danish Consulate in Dallas with a sign; I?m just too damn lazy...

My sign would have said:
Front - "Free Speech is Good
Back - "Please Don't Kill Me"

[Ed]

Enjoy your little rally with your fellow Statists.

A public demonstration in favor of free speech makes one a statist, Jaybird?
That's a fairly idiotic statement. Sorry.

[Peter K.]

"pritish" says "Where is the rally for Darfur?" I thought you were organizing it. No? Oh.... Too bad. Let the slaughter continue.

In my view the religious nuts who were attacking the Danish embassies, etc., etc., were really assaulting and trying to intimidate the Danish *people,* not their government or state.

The rally is a nice way to support these people and the principles they embody - some of them - while at the same time telling the police states of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, etc. - who fanned the flames on this - to go to hell.

[Peter K.]

"pritish" says "Where is the rally for Darfur?" I thought you were organizing it. No? Oh.... Too bad. Let the slaughter continue.

In my view the religious nuts who were attacking the Danish embassies, etc., etc., were really assaulting and trying to intimidate the Danish *people,* not their government or state.

The rally is a nice way to support these people and the principles they embody - some of them - while at the same time telling the police states of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, etc. - who fanned the flames on this - to go to hell.

[Ruthless]

How quickly we all can become uncivil: the Danes, then the Sunni's, then the Shia's.
Each was the "devil" making the next "do it."
I'm not saying we all should just get along, but let's abandon this thread for the one above it about pissers and shitters.
It's much healthier.

[Jaybird]

pssst, ed, read the posts that came before mine

still think my post was in earnest?

[mk]

I'm skipping out at lunchtime and going.

Hopefully noone will notice that I'm gone at work.

[Greg N]

Damn. Loren Lomasky at GMU, or this Hitchens thing? What's a war-mongering libertarian to do?

[Sambandar]

I wonder if the Danes will delight in support from a outspoken Arab hater?

[Stevo Darkly]

I ate a danish for breakfast, if that helps. Though it was dry enough I think it might have come from Denmark.

Dammit, that's another thing. These toon threads always end up making me hungry for pastry.

[Rick Barton]

I ate a danish for breakfast, if that helps.

If I put a danish on the same plate with baklava, will they fight?

[Isaac Bartram]

If I put a danish on the same plate with baklava, will they fight?

No but if you eat them both you'll probably get fat. 🙂

[CB]

Who's an outspoken Arab hater Sambandar? neither Hitchens nor Andrew Sullivan, that's for sure. If you genuinely believe that you haven't read either of them.

[Jeff]

Bravo Hitch!

If I lived in Washington I'd be there.

Jeff,
Toronto

[Aldin]

So Malkin organized a rally recently? Interesting, the same woman who gushed about a being a stay-at-home mom in one her previous columns, is suddenly organizing rallys, appearing on FOX a couple of times a week and traveling the country giving speeches hosted by Repulicans on campuses and researching in libraries for her pro-internment books. Uhm, makes you wonder who's really writing those books and articles, or is it all a sham?

[Free Speech For All]

Is anyone going to hold an anti-Austrian rally to support Irving too?

[mk]

I just got back from the rally. Hitch was there, of course, as was Andrew Sullivan (not that I recognized him) and that douchebag Tony Blankely.
The best sign I saw was an enormous lego board with "Free Speech" written on it entirely in legos. That one got a round of applause.
Some of the more active chanters were from this group this (I think). I chanted along a bit, but the crowd was fairly docile. Chapped lips may been to blame for that.
I figured it was worth missing lunch to support a country that believes that a free press is beyond the purview of that country's government. I'd like to hear about that kind of thing more often.

[Craig F.]

I hope Tony Blankely mentions this rally on the McLaughlin Group this week.