It almost seems too obvious to write about how ridiculous Tom Flanagan's comments about child pornography were yesterday in Lethbridge, Alberta. In response to a question about a statement he made about that subject in 2009, he responded by saying "I certainly have no sympathy for child molesters, but I do have some grave doubts about putting people in jail because of their taste in pictures." He then went on to say "it is a real issue of personal liberty, to what extent we put people in jail for doing something in which they do not harm another person." I guess I define personal liberty different than Tom. Oh wait, so does the rest of the world! According to Webster, personal liberty is defined as "the freedom of the individual to to as he pleases limited only by the authority of politically organized society to regulate his actions to secure the public health, safety, or morals of other recognized social interests." To me, that means to abet child pornagraphers by looking at their pictures, means that you are not securing that child's health or safety and therefore, should be punished!
Sadly, this isn't the only idiotic thing Tom Flanagan has said. In 2010, he advocated the assassination of WikLeaks founder Julian Assange. To make matters worse, this man used to advise our Prime Minister, and ran the campaign of the Wild Rose party in the last Alberta election and has been responsible for teaching young minds at the University of Calgary as a political science professor. Flanagan has since apologized, and the PMO, Wildrose Party and University of Calgary have all issued statements denouncing his remarks. That said, I'm still not sure anybody should be listening to or learning from Tom Flanagan...
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