Mike's Minute: Free speech is something we must protect, even if you don't like it

The Mike Hosking Breakfast

For me, the more interesting aspect of our Roe v Wade reaction is the intolerance of so many in a country that would argue the opposite.
We love free speech, we love freedom of thought, and we love our ‘rights’, all of our ‘rights’, until of course it affects us or affronts us.
Then we go nuts.
I got a lot of reaction to the Simon O’Connor post on Roe v Wade, National had just lost half their votes was a theme.
The attacks on Christopher Luxon were another.
Such an extreme reaction to something that has literally no impact in this country whatsoever.
We took the actions of the court of another country and somehow transferred them to our place and started hypothesising as to what would happen if something similar were to unfold here, even though it wasn’t going to.
People like Lorde stood on a stage at Glastonbury and said “F the Supreme Court” as if f’ ing them is an achievable thing.
At least Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day in renouncing his American citizenship is in fact an American and therefore is a great deal more closely tied to the United States Supreme Court than we are.
Simon O’Connor’s view is not my view, but I like the fact he is allowed to have it.
I’m not at all convinced that Luxon making him take the post down did himself or his party any sort of service.
On a conscience issue, why are you closing down a conscience because it doesn’t align with your parties policy? Do all MPs have to line up lock step on everything their party says?
And if they do, how out of wack with the real world is that?
But Luxon, who is pro-life, and more than welcome to be, then gets second-guessed by Grant Robertson for purely political purposes.
Once again, seemingly suggesting that you can’t have a separate personal view to party policy.
If the Nats aren’t changing abortion law, if no one is changing abortion law 1) Why don’t we believe the people who say it and 2) What a waste of an exercise arguing about something that isn’t happening.
As for losing half the votes, that’s the sort of emotive tosh far too may intolerants rely on to bully people.
Historically, single issues don’t swing votes, so threatening it is pointless.
If anything has been learned out of these three or four days of overreaction, it’s that we are ideological frauds.
Big supporters of free speech, unless that free speech doesn’t suit us.

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