I blame post-Christmas and post-New Year lethargy for missing a brilliant article by Alex Massie at The Coffee House which is summed up in this copy of a grossly offensive, threatening tweet which, in my opinion, is likely to cause an outbreak of violence - well, it will if I ever get within swinging distance of the Chief Constable of Scotland!
Now, I don't want anyone reporting me for being 'Jock-ist' because, as Mr.Massie confirms, exactly the same sort of dangerous idiocy exists south of the border. And when it comes to idiocy, our 'Plods' are in a league of their own - you only have to remember the 'Plebgate' affair! To be fair, which I am not inclined to be, they are aided and abetted in their stupidity by the political class and - natch! - the lawyer class. None of them seem to recognize the importance of upholding the freedom to be rude and to be offensive:
But regardless of whether people are grossly offended by such posts or not it is plain that, in the absence of direct harassment or threats of specific harm[my emphasis], they’re simply expressions of opinion. Distasteful opinion, perhaps, but still only opinion. Which ought not to be enough to trigger an investigation, far less arrests and prosecutions. This is so even if – no, especially when – a reasonable person might conclude the tweets (or whatever) were racist, sectarian, homophobic or anything else. The freedom to be a moron is an important one. Ditto for bigots.
To paraphrase that famous quotation, 'First they came for the morons and bigots'!
