A German court has bizarrely upheld a ban that prevents German comic Jan Boehmermann from reciting or republishing a poem that he wrote criticizing Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to the BBC, it was the numerous sexual references that the court found unacceptable.
I frequently see people argue for the United States to abandon its expansive First Amendment protections and instead adopt a more European approach to speech (especially with regards to so-called “hate speech.”) What could possibly go wrong?
Or, alternately, if saying Erdogan is a goat-fucker is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
This English translation of the poem has been floating around the Internet, but I could not track it down to the original source. Many thanks to the translator.
Defamation Poem, by Jan Böhmermann
Stupid as fuck, cowardly and uptight,
Is Erdogan, the president,
His gob smells of bad döner,
Even a pig’s fart smells better,
He’s the man who hits girls,
While wearing a rubber mask,
But goat-fucking he likes the best,
And having minorities repressed,Kicking Kurds,
Beating Christians,
While watching kiddie porn,
And even at night, instead of sleep,
It’s time for fellatio with a hundred sheep,Yep, Erdogan is definitely
The president with a tiny dick,
Every Turk will tell you all,
The stupid fool has wrinkly balls,
From Ankara to Istanbul,
They all know the man is gay,
Perverted, louse-infested, a zoophile,
Recep Fritzl PriklopilHead as empty as his balls,
Of every gang-bang party he’s the star,
Till his cock burns when he has a piss,
That’s Recep Erdogan,
The Turkish president.