Tyrants Know Democracies Too Well

On the topic of tyrants and free speech, Mark Steyn nails it:

These men understand the self-absorption of advanced democracies. The difference between Winston Churchill and Ward Churchill, another famous beneficiary of “academic freedom” who called the 9/11 dead “little Eichmanns,” is that for Sir Winston talking was a call to action while for poseurs like Professor Churchill it’s a substitute for it. The pen is not mightier than the sword if your enemy is confident you will never use anything other than your pen. Sometimes it’s not about “freedom of speech,” but about freedom. Ask an Iranian homosexual. If you can find one.

It applies to the West, it applies to the US--and it applies to Israel, whose pen seems never to run out of ink.

Technorati Tag: Free Speech and Ahmadinejad.