Ban Ban

To no one's surprise, the U.N. has come out against basic human rights.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the airing of Geert Wilders` offensively anti-Islamic film, according to a statement of the United Nations issued in New York on Friday."

I condemn, in the strongest terms, the airing of Geert Wilders` offensively anti-Islamic film. There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence. The right of free expression is not at stake here.

I haven't seen the film, so I can't say how offensive it is, but note that Ban Ki-moon's problem is not that the film is offensive, but that it was shown at all. In other words, the right of free expression is at stake here. "Hate speech," whatever that means (and it sure shouldn't mean what Ban Ki-moon doesn't like), should be just as protected as any other political speech.

As far as "incitement to violence," there are countless nasty (and sometimes accurate) things that people say about each other all over the world. If the response to such general statements is violence, then the ones to condemn are those who commit the violence.