The group [of experts] will comprise two academics, two behavioral scientists or psychologists and an expert on cinema and television productions... Speaking to DHA Tuesday, [Bilgin Çiftçi’s lawyer Hicran] Danışman said the trial has turned into “a case of saving the pride of Gollum.”...Here's what Çiftçi shared on Facebook that led to this prosecution:
The president and his government “don’t have a sense of humor,” cartoonist Selcuk Erdem, whose magazine has been prosecuted for insulting Erdogan, told the BBC. “They don’t want — or like — freedom of speech or criticism.”
Bu fotoğrafları paylaştığı için memuriyetten atılan Dr. Bilgin Çiftçi yalnız değildir! İlle bir işlem yapmak istiyorsanı...
Posted by Ateist Forum on Thursday, October 15, 2015
I'm torn. I'd like to help Çiftçi by saying, aw, that's cute. That's making Erdogan's slightly funny looks seem rather adorable. But I also want to say the repression of speech quite properly bites Erdogan in the ass, because it's propagating the very speech that annoys him.
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17 comments:
Peter Jackson has weighed in that the character Erdogan was being compared to wasn't even Gollum, but to Smeagol, who is clearly *not* evil.
I wish him luck, it's an imaginative defense. Gollum was a victim of the power of the ring and he was useful in his final moments, but that doesn't add up to anything that could be called a good guy.
I'm pretty sure that Turkey doesn't have a first amendment that protects it's citizens. If it were up to the left in this country neither would we.
Douchebags.
It's not nice to insult Sultans. They traditionally cut off the heads who dare to do it.
Turkey still wants to be seen as a Modern European Democracy. But that doesn't mean they really are one, silly rabbit.
Erdogan's not Gollum. This guy is Gollum.
"But I also want to say the repression of speech quite properly bites Erdogan in the ass, because it's propagating the very speech that annoys him." Hate to break it to you, but authoritarian SOBs like Erdogan don't care about that, as long as they get to crush the supposed ass-biters.
Gollum is not a hero. In order for his actions (aka his sacrifice) to be heroic, they need to be based on a conscious decision on his part, rather than stupidity and lack of situational awareness (e.g. standing near the edge)
Turkey is descending into Islamist hell with Erdogan leading the way.
"Peter Jackson has weighed in that the character Erdogan was being compared to wasn't even Gollum, but to Smeagol, who is clearly *not* evil."
-- Smeagol strangled his friend for a pretty trinket. He is definitely not good. He was immediately corrupted by the ring; every other good character we see is at least aware of its corrupting influence and able to resist it to same extent, even if it scars them [like Bilbo], or they know they would inevitably fall to it [Gandalf].
Re: Smeagol strangling --
Excellent point! He certainly is not *innocent* -- but is he evil (yet)? Or is he just susceptible/fallen to corrupting influence -- he certainly struggles with trying to maintain goodness until he becomes Gollum.
Why on earth is this country (which also aids and abets ISIS) still in NATO??????
Deirdre Mundy: "Why on earth is this country (which also aids and abets ISIS) still in NATO??????"
Cold and Hot War hangover.
And once Governments put something in place, they never remove it short of some event that forces a change.
I'm surprised that we don't have "Buggy Whip Subsidy Act" still in place, but then again, I haven't looked closely enough to verify we don't.
Plus, the western leftists are still quite aligned with radical islam in that what Erdogan represents is simply an ideology that, like the left, seeks to minimize and diminish the classical western culture dominance.
So, peas in a pod so to speak.
Gollum was a victim of the power of the ring and he was useful in his final moments, but that doesn't add up to anything that could be called a good guy.
Hitler might have been a bad guy, but at least he killed Hitler.
If you don't know how "Lord of the Rings" ends, I must alert you to a huge spoiler in the 5th paragraph at the link.
Here's an even bigger spoiler: "Lord of the Rings" sucks.
Here's what Çiftçi shared on Facebook that led to this prosecution:
Hee--I thought truth was an absolute defense against libel.
Get these people out of NATO. They are not worthy.
Putin would approve of the prosecution. Still, if having to choose between the Russian and the Turk the Russian is starting to look not so bad.
Smeagol was of a race related to the hobbits, that lived along rivers and streams than the glens of the Shire. They were not quite as bright as the hobbits...childlike would be a nice description. When first encountering the ring, Smeagol was immediately filled by its power, and it forced him to want him to posses it. This emotion overcame Smeagol's usual peaceful personality and he became much like a child with a toy. Children become violent when you try to take a toy away from them, much like Smeagol did. He was driven to hide with his "precious" so no one would ever see it except him. Over the centuries, the ring warped and twisted his mind until he became insane. At the end of the story, one realizes that Smeagol was a tragic figure, not heroic, not evil, just sad. He finally gets that which he most desires, and dies for it.
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