A man who tells lies, like me, merely hides the truth. But a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it.

The talk yesterday around my house was why in the hell the Oregonian had agreed to distribute copies of the anti-islamic video Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West to it's subscribers.

(This DVD video now serves as a coaster on our coffee table by the way. )

Apparently we're a little late to the party on this video as it appears this controversy's been brewing for a while nationally and locally. In Portland the mayor actually asked the publisher of the Oregonian Fred Stickel not to put the inserts in the paper.

The mayor's office said he wrote to the publisher of the paper: "The Mayor reviewed the video and personally asked Fred Stickel, Oregonian publisher, not to distribute it in next Sunday's issue. The Mayor felt that the tenor of the video contributes towards a climate of distrust towards Muslims that holds the entire Muslim community accountable for the actions of a dangerously misguided few. Distributing with the Oregonian lends the video an impression of objectivity and legitimacy it does not deserve."

Of course Stickel refused and published the paper with the video advertisment anyway--

The report by Bill Graves revealed that Fred Stickel, publisher of The Oregonian, said the newspaper is treating the DVD as it does other paid advertising or product inserts.

"I've always felt we have an obligation to keep our advertising columns as open as possible," said Stickel, after viewing the DVD. "Our acceptance of anything -- our acceptance or rejection -- does not depend on whether or not we agree with the content. . . . There is a principle of freedom of speech involved here. I could find no reason to reject this."

With this in mind I'm sending the following letter to the advertising editor at the Oregonian--

To Whom It May Concern:

I am a filmmaker that has recently completed my first feature length film entitled "Hitler Was Misunderstood, But Even If He Wasn't He Was Right Anyway." The video is entirely educational. I would like to include free DVD copies in the Sunday edition of the paper. What would be the cost of that? Also; I see from your website that you have no restrictions on content. Nevertheless I will keep the swastikas on the video cover small.

Yours under the First Amendment,

Feldwebel Wormer

If you want a serious response to this garbage check out this website.

UPDATE: PJ points out there was also attack against a mosque this last weekend. I suppose that's another example of Stickel's Free Speech.