NO BALADI FOR BADAWI

We would be remiss if we didn't join the movement 

for the freedom -and unconditional pardon- 

of fellow blogger Raif Badawi 

recently condemned to years in prison 

on top of being flogged a thousand times 

for the mere act of blogging.

But can we truly hope for anything -

even now, as his chief accuser has gone on...?

Hashtags such as #FREERAIF 

#NoMoreFloggingForBlogging 

#SaudiArabianLiberalsUnite

and, perhaps, #ACartoonAgainstEveryLash 

are flourishing - and fighting on... 

for liberty of expression!

For blogging rights, rather than bragging ones...

For ''free-dommmmm'' -

and, yeah, we all know what that got 

William Wallace...

Everyone and their (most) D.C. (distant cousin) 

has joined on this worldwide rally 

clamoring for the immediate release of Raif 

and dispensing of the remaining hundreds 

of punitive whiplashes 

that were set to be administered 

to his scrawny back...

and all that just for having blogged!

Of course, I would draw a parallel 

between this ''radical blogger'' 

(it's a form of radicalism as seen by 

the Saudi Arabian regime, yes;

me, I haven't even read Raif's blog!)

and the recent tragedy that struck 

a bunch of freethinking cartoonists 

that often displayed a very bad sense 

of what humor is or is supposed to be -

and were met with swift retribution 

coming from the hands 

(from the guns, mostly) 

of radicals all their own...

Where the above picture was taken 

(in greater Canada - but, to be more specific 

somewhere closer to that nation's capital) 

political party leaders with an eye on power 

(namely the NDP's Thomas Mulcair)

and well-known journalists (there) 

such as Jean-François Lépine 

have vehemently joined this public outcry 

- even more loudly so, strangely enough, 

than for the Charlie Hebdo massacre in France.

Imagine that.

La liberté de quoi - d'être con? D'offusquer des cons?

Faudrait définir, une bonne fois...

Now, you know me by now - do you not? 

I will be squarely on the side of a blogger 

much more so than by a crude cartoonist's 

so-called journalist's back... 

I paraphrased Voltaire, in social media, 

in re: Charlie...

I stated that, like Voltaire, I would fight 

for the right that they have to express 

themselves, surely; 

but it would be inversely proportional 

to my degree of disagreement (or agreement)

with what they say or do...

In other words, 

if I profoundly dislike their crap, 

I would agree that they can still 

keep on producing such crap, 

but I would hardly lift a finger. 

Now if I happen to share the same 

point of view - then,

it is a whole different ballgame!

For, then, I would fight tooth and nail 

for the right of expression - 

for the message is worthy!

Important nuance, I think...

I doubt Mulcair and Lépine,

to name but those two, 

care so much about what was said,

written, blogged...

They are outspoken about the basic right 

to freedom of speech for one and all. 

But when one in particular and most all 

are foolish enough to express the wrong thing 

at the wrong time - and for the wrong crowd 

how can you back up such idiocy 100%...? 

One Frenchman at least made sense: 

cartoonist Jean-Michel Delambre 

                (a close friend of the Charlie Hebdo victims...)                

stated that he believes we can laugh of any subject 

but he also believes that we cannot laugh 

of just any subject with just anybody...! 

And what were the cartoonists of CH 

or this Badawi blogger thinking -

did they want to simply aggravate 

for the sake of it - 

simply because they could 

express themselves 

-in theory anyways-

freely?

There are risks to that.

It can go from a hundred 

or a thousand whiplashes 

all the way to 

une pluie de balles...

And there is also a time 

and a place 

for every truth -

that is 

if these guys had one 

worthy of sharing...

Judging from some of these CH samples, 

it is extremely doubtful:

Perhaps the only case when CH 

actually made one iota of sense...

But I am digressing...

Elles n'apportent rien de bon 

de toute façon...

The case is clear with CH...

The jury is still out on Raif.

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