"Who’s to Say?" - Commentary by Tony Seton

Who’s to Say?

It may be that we don’t have to worry about such silly little matters as freedom of speech, press and religion, what with current attitudes toxifying around our once-treasured rights. Judging from the faux christian notions trumpeted by spiritual perverts like James Dobson, the very notion of thinking for one’s self is heretical. Indeed, he and his would be happy as mushrooms in the dark dank effluvium if we simply followed his lead. That would include, by the way, a major crusade against children’s cartoon characters.

Then there was the recent survey of high school students who think expressing one’s own personal opinion is not necessarily a reasonable exercise. Nor do they think that newspapers -- as if they actually read them -- should be able to say what they want if the government doesn’t like what they would say. Why are they bothering with school?

‘Cause it sure ain’t gonna be a serious learning experience. What with science teachers not bothering with subjects like evolution because it would only provoke consternation amongst school boards and parents. Translated, they fear for their jobs, albeit made useless by their cowardice. Remembering when teaching was a noble profession?

To complicate matters for those of us who think free speech is an important concept are people like Howard Stern. He trash-talks to millions of people a day, and gets paid millions to do so. The issue with Stern is not to gag him, as tempting an image as that might present, but to raise the public standards so that people would be embarrassed to listen to him.

Then there is the case of Ward Churchill, a tenured professor at the University of Colorado. He was also chairman of the ethics studies department until he recently resigned. Churchill wrote an essay in the hours after Nine-Eleven in which he called the victims of the attack "little Eichmanns." He said those killed in the World Trade Center were akin to the military’s collateral damage.

The Colorado Board of Regents is considering trying to find a way to fire Churchill, and why not? There should be limits to freedom of speech beyond the ever-popular yelling Fire! in a crowded theater. I don’t think the Nazis should have been allowed to march in Skokie, for example. And if we need a guideline, how about limiting the speech of those who don’t exercise it themselves...in the name of basic human decency?

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.