23 March 2007

Ask the Revolutionary

Ask him about what it's like to give up one's rights to the criminally well-meaning.
"We should be aware of people who, sometimes for good reasons, try to establish what I call private moral codes, for this or that, be it climate change, religious behaviour or any kind of social behaviour," (European Commission President José Manuel Barroso) says.

"I was 18 years old when a democratic revolution came to my country. Before we could not read the books or listen to the music we wanted," he says, speaking in his 13th-floor office in the Berlaymont building in Brussels. "I am radical on these matters. If there is an excess of freedom, it is better to have excess than less."

"We have to show respect for all communities but the fundamental right of freedom of expression is for me more important than other collective rights," he says.

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