So very much has happened over the past week, including the raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, which in a just world would lead to his imprisonment but in this cracked, shitty world will probably just lead him back into the White House. Anyway, as has been reported quite widely, Salman Rushdie was attacked on-stage just as he was giving a talk in upstate NY. He has survived and is slowly recovering, but it sounds as if the damage was pretty severe and he will likely lose an eye. I've managed to see him in person twice, as I discuss here. This post links to a few videos of some of his recent talks and interviews. I would imagine it will be quite a while before Rushdie is up for appearing in person, and when he does security will be much tighter. I can't recall security in Chicago but I don't think it was extreme. I think all bags had to be checked in Toronto but maybe small purses were allowed. I don't recall any metal detectors or being "wanded" in Toronto but maybe they did do a search of the purses that were allowed in. At any rate, both events went off without a hitch.
The Guardian has a number of columns on this. Far more than most American papers. Margaret Atwood's is one of the better pieces, but there are several talking about how the fatwa has been internalized and how it is so frowned upon (though not illegal yet) among the woke to offend anyone's opinions and specifically to avoid punching down. It would be next to impossible to publish The Satanic Verses in today's climate and probably only one of those publishers that specializes in publishing the "victims" of "Me Too" campaigns and not a reputable publisher would dare to publish it now. As a concrete example, I was very disappointed recently at how many Toronto institutions, like the Aga Khan Museum and TMU (formerly Ryerson), backed away from their initial support of a controversial film about the Indian goddess Kali.* It's pretty clear that in this era, there just aren't many champions of free speech, since it now has to be "respectful" free speech, which is an oxymoron. It's not that I don't think there should be absolutely no limits at all, as libel and incitement of violence and murder do cross a line, but I would draw the line in a very different place than most of today's progressives. I do wonder if this attack will force some progressives to realize there is no point in trying to appease religious fanatics and to engage in self-censorship. It's just not worth it, since it is literally impossible not to offend someone anytime you post something or engage in any speech at all.
Anyway, my wishes to a speedy recovery for Salman Rushdie. I hadn't really planned on rereading it in the next couple of years, but maybe I should make a point of reading The Satanic Verses (and at least occasionally doing so in public). However, it's not my favourite book of his by far, which would be Shame or Quichotte depending on my mood, but that's not really the point.
* I'm not really that surprised by the Aga Khan, which is after all an institution to celebrate Islamic art, but TMU has fully internalized this position of not offending anyone with a Twitter account, which is an absolutely gutless and despicable stance for a university to take. Again, depressing but not surprising given the way the world is today.
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