freedumb of speech

although i miss him when he's away, i must admit that i tend to enjoy the musings of the sometimes-blogger-in-lieu-of tom tomorrow, bob harris, due to, in contrast to mr. tomorrow, the sheer volume of his postings. some of his latest go well with one of our previous offerings here at tepidity, the one about the media carta. but don't take my word for it. go and check out the rest of his most recent and timely posts on the handover of power in iraq and the highs and lows of the american media coverage of the whole mess at this modern world. here's a taste:

"Great Thinkers Address Freedom Of Speech
(Note: this entry posted by Bob Harris)

'I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies another this right makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it.'
-- Thomas Paine, 1783

'Free speech exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free.'
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 1918

'The truth is found when men are free to pursue it.'
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936

'If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.'
-- George Orwell, 1945

'Any time we deny any citizen the full exercise of his constitutional rights, we are weakening our own claim to them.'
-- Dwight David Eisenhower, 1963

'What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant.'
-- Robert F. Kennedy, 1964

'Go fuck yourself.'
-- Dick Cheney, 2004"

now that your appetite has been sufficiently whetted, what are you waiting for? go on!

and yes, the past participle of whet is whetted.