Mark Twain Quotes
The devil's aversion to holy water is a light matter compared with a despots dread of a newspaper that laughs.
Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Charles L. Webster & Co., 1889.
The evils of the time were even worse than in modern times. Most newspapers, journals, and periodicals were in 1835 actually owned and operated by political parties or people totally identified with political parties. In modern times, there are publications and blogs which are controlled by political forces, but most are not.
Virginia had adopted this right almost 20 years before it was added in the Bill of Rights to our Federal Constitution. Mason had drafted it.
Two decades later Jefferson, after his Presidency, had developed a different attitude towards the press. See {585116}.
The statement was in protest to the Spanish arrest of a Syrian born journalist, Taysir Alluni, who had been accused of supporting Al-Quaeda cells in Spain by moving money to the cells. Alluni was well connected with Al-Quaeda as he had reported on them for some time and had personally interviewed Osama Bin Laden. Many believe that the cash was a cultural misinterpretation of the Muslim custom of sending cash as a wedding present which the Spanish authorities may have misinterpreted as financing of terrorism. Many believe that he is the victim of Anti-Islamic bias. While many legitimate news organizations are are troubled by this case, the Syrian protest is particularly ironic. In Syria there is not freedom of the press and any reporter can go to jail for offenses from insulting Islam to disparaging the Syrian government and its officials. There is no such thing as freedom of expression in Syria and there has not been since the Baathists gained control of the government.
In September of 2005 a Danish Newspaper published some political cartoons showing the hypocrisy of some Muslims who use Islam to justify murder of innocents and terrorism. Months later, many in the Middle East protested vehemently and Muslim riots broke out and Danish boycotts ensued because the Prophet Muhammad's visage was depicted against Islamic tradition. Many Muslim leaders claimed that insulting religion was an “abuse” of freedom of speech including those from nations which regularly publish material that is virulent against Christians and Jews.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature". His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), the latter often called "The Great American Novel".
