Must-read post of the day...

...is this one by Peter Risdon, on the subject of the racism and xenophobia directive.

The only honourable course must be to pledge not to be bound by this legislation, should it come into effect, whatever the consequences might be.

I make that pledge. My freedom of speech is not negotiable.

He can count me in too. 

From the comments, this listing of the reasons given for the American Declaration of Independence is also instructive.

"HE [George III] has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance."

And...

"HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws..."

And...

"FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent..."

And...

"FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury..."

And...

"FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments..."

It's a pretty damning indictment of us as a people that we seem to be willing to tolerate what proved so utterly intolerable for the Americans. Some might argue that the difference is that we have the democratic process to rid ourselves of a government which treats us in this way, but it's not an argument that can be sustained for very long. We might get rid of Blair, or Labour, or any other government that enacted this kind of legislation, but this will not stop the legislation being imposed on us by the EU.  That's why it is impossible to be a liberal and to support the EU. That's why we need to get out.

Comments

[dearieme]

The Declaration is quite a "bill of goods". At least Jefferson was prevailed upon to take out the crap about how George III had forced the custom of slavery on his unwilling American subjects, but he left in his complaint about the liberal treatment of the Quebecois, those filthy French Catholics. (Go on, read the Declaration, and see if you can think of an alternative interpretation of the relevant bit.) Jefferson was the Goebbels of his day.

[Bishop Hill]

I shall certainly do that. This is a story I haven't come across before.

[dearieme]

Here's his draft: do enjoy the hypocrisy about slavery. Not only did Jefferson own slaves, it would seem that he shagged them and, famously, he didn't free them on his death.

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/ruffdrft.html