Sam Newman at it again!

[PaulP]

i find a lot (almost all in fact) of what Sam Newman says distasteful. But i want to live in a country where we debate opinions and even allow those who disagree with us to say their piece. Too many in society decry alternate opinions and people even lose their jobs if they publicly disagree... Sam Newman is a tosser, but i stick by it, he has every right to state his opinion, unless he crosses lines that are illegal.

Also i know people like to misquote, which is one of the reasons i gave up on forums.. but  will point out i never said Newman was Tough, Courageous or Brave, nor did i say he was a "martyr for free speech"... i claimed it is important he has the right to disagree even on divisive issues that swaths of society have arbitrarily already declared off limits.

And i would HATE if anyone booed, but i hate all booing.

Firstly I apologise for misquoting you.

Newman, and others of his ilk, wouldn't know a debate if it bit him on the ar$e. He has no interest in debating, he has no interest in understanding anything in any depth, he has no interest in anything other than just gobbing off to anything he doesn't like. He is the first one to shoot down anyone who disagrees with him, with all manner of insults and dismissive cr@p.

Free speech is not equally distributed among the population - they are blatant power asymmetries that give people like him leverage that others don't have. Newman speaks from a position of privilege and status that affords him protection from any real punishment. Imagine if Lidia Thorpe came out and said we should all burn Australian flags and slow clap during the National Anthem ? There's a reason why hate speech is used predominately by protected groups like the one to which Newman belongs.