Pretty Damn Free

“If you never encounter anything that offends you, you are not living in a free society.”

—Avril Phaedra “Kim” Campbell, Canada’s only woman prime minister (June-Nov. 1993), 2004.

• Editorial Comment: Society is pretty damn free these days, Ms. Campbell.

Sometime later . . . “I have deleted my tweet about the hurricane & Mar-a-Lago and sincerely apologize to all it offended,” Campbell said in a tweet. “It was intended as sarcasm — not a serious wish of harm. Throwaway lines get a life of their own on Twitter. I sh[oul]d know better. Mea culpa.” —after “rooting” for Hurricane Dorian to hit the Trump resort, August 2019. Story.

PeezPix

Plateface #9526

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“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard