The Left does not grasp the definition of rights

 

This post from Bob Belvedere illustrates the difference between how the Left and Right view rights

…is awarded to Mark Steyn for his response to the pablum puked by a UN Official regarding Free Speech.

First: what the UN dickhead said:

Free speech is a “gift given to us by the [Universal] Declaration of Human Rights,” said Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Jan Eliasson during a press conference on October 2nd at UN headquarters in New York. It is “a privilege,” Eliasson said, “that we have, which in my view involves also the need for respect, the need to avoid provocations.”

Mr. Steyn:

Free speech is a gift given to us in 1948 by U.N. officials? Who knew?

The only appropriate response of free-born peoples to such a statement is: **** off, ******. Free speech is not in the gift of minor Swedish timeserving hack bureaucrats, either to grant or withdraw.

The Left sees rights as collective, and they see them as things to be given by government, and, restricted by government as the government sees fit.