Carrie
Twomey, Editor of The Blanket • 5 September
2006
Hurley
and Al Zarqawi
IF
there is a mouthpiece for the IRA dissidents it
is on the Internet at something called “The
Blanket,” which annually prints all the
anti-Sinn Fein propaganda you could ever need
to read.
Interesting,
then, to see they have also begun printing Pat
Hurley’s anti-Irish Lobby for Immigration
Reform missives in recent weeks. Hurley, the Cork
Association president, has virulently attacked
ILIR, claiming the group is undermining Judeo
Christian values among other very strange claims.
Does
his appearance on “The Blanket”
make Hurley at one with the dissidents? Hard to
know, but it certainly begs the question as to
why he would be submitting his material to those
who run the site.
And
the anti-Americanism on the site is quite intense
— a recent article regretted the death of
the fanatical killer and America hater Abu Musab
Al Zarqawi. Does Hurley also agree with his editors
at “The Blanket” that the death
of Al Zarqawi was unfortunate?
Its
just another question for the ordinary Cork Association
members to ask of their president who has succeeded
in dragging the association down this strange
path with them. It must be a trifle disconcerting
to know that their president is consorting with
such blatant anti-American and anti-peace process
foes like those at “The Blanket.”
- Intelligencer,
Irish Voice, 30 August 2006
Sirs:
In
a recent Intelligencer (surely a misnomer?) tidbit,
reference is made to articles submitted to The
Blanket by Mr Patrick Hurley. What Intelligencer
fails to grasp in his use of the breadth of material
on The Blanket as a stick to beat Hurley
with, is that the core of The Blanket is
its free speech, anti-censorship ethos. (He could
hardly be unaware of this given the mission statement
on the front page of The Blanket.)
We
take all comers at The Blanket, regardless
of whether their viewpoint is agreeable to us
or not. That is the point of freedom of speech,
and what follows from it: the ability to think
for yourself. So Intelligencer can attempt to
link what is obviously a collection of wide and
sometimes conflicting viewpoints in a bid to smear
his political opponents, but it only makes him
look vindictive and rather silly. It may not have
dawned on Intelligencer that perhaps Mr Hurley
submits his work to The Blanket because
he appreciates its commitment to freedom of speech
and the space it gives to a diversity of views.
If
I may correct Intelligencer in regards to this
question to Mr Hurley: "Does Hurley also
agree with his editors at “The Blanket”
that the death of Al Zarqawi was unfortunate?"
The editors at The Blanket have not expressed
an opinion on the death of Al Zarqawi. It is unclear
which article Intelligencer is referring to (I
believe it may have been a letter?), but regardless,
it clearly states on The Blanket, "The
author bears sole responsibility for the opinion
he or she expresses". Unless a by-line attributes
authorship to the Editor of The Blanket,
the opinion in the article published belongs solely
to the author who penned it.
Obviously,
this allows for people to disagree and hold contrary
views. I am sure writers such as David Adams,
Dr. John Coulter, Rev. Brian Kennaway, the late
Billy Mitchell, Eoin O'Broin, Fr. Sean Mac Manus,
Mehdi Mozaffari, Maryam Namazie and others would
all be quite surprised to find that they lamented
the death of Al Zarqawi—while simultaneously
becoming Republican dissidents and anti peace
process—by the simple act of writing for
The Blanket.
Publications
such as the Irish Voice may have an editorial
policy that entails stamping a particular party
line on all its articles; that is its prerogative.
But that is not the policy or the ethos of The
Blanket in any form whatsoever. This difference
may explain why Intelligencer regards the diversity
of The Blanket as "a strange path".
If the Cork Association values free speech, they
may think it a worthy path to tread and support
it just as Mr Hurley has done.
There
is no such thing as a dirty word. Nor is there a word
so powerful, that it's going to send the listener to
the lake of fire upon hearing it. - Frank Zappa
