Freedom of Speech
I have always been proud to be an American. The
ideals on which our country was founded reflect
universal rights that all people on this earth
should enjoy. The nuts and bolts of our democratic
system, brilliantly codified in our Constitution,
ensure the preservation of these rights. Chief
amongst these rights is the freedom of speech. It
is one of our rights that we exercise most
frequently, and are most vocal in defending
(thereby simultaneously exercising and defending
it).
Yesterday, Iraqi residents of Baghdad were given
their first opportunity to freely speak in more
than 30 years—an opportunity they wasted no
time in seizing, choosing to speak with both their
voices and their footwear. Ironically, on the same
day of this great emancipation, one news story
showed how we Americans sometimes forget the
meaning of freedom of speech.
In Carpinteria, California (a suburb of Santa
Barbara), a group of patriotic Americans took it
upon themselves to tie yellow ribbons on trees
around town to express their support of U.S. troops
overseas. One passerby took exception to this
freedom of expression and got into a heated
exchange about the war in Iraq with those
decorating the trees. Apparently not satisfied with
the outcome of the discussion, this person returned
on in-line skates, scissors in hand, and snipped
each ribbon as she skated down the street.
Though this story is insignificant in the
context of yesterday's events, it is illustrative
of the hypocrisy that often accompanies the
exercise of free speech when hotly contested issues
are involved. When some individuals dislike the
opinions expressed by others, they denounce such
opinions as "wrong" and attempt to squelch them. As
Americans, these ribbon-hangers in Carpinteria had
every right to express themselves as they did
(notwithstanding the mostly irrelevant issue of
whether or not a city permit was required to
decorate city property, an angle that at least one
radio station felt worthy of mention). Similarly,
the skating protestor had every right to express
her opinion by objecting to the sentiment embodied
by the yellow ribbons. But to infringe on or
obstruct someone else's freedom of expression
because you disagree with them is simply
un-American. Yet it is all too common.
When debate fails, too many people resort to
denunciations. I remember the controversy that
erupted a couple of years ago when conservative
commentator David Horowitz was invited to speak at
UCLA. Naturally, the event drew many protestors who
opposed his points of view. But the protestors
crossed the line of free speech when they caused
such a disruption that Horowitz was all but drowned
out. Rather than voice their own opinions and
respect his, they did whatever they could to
prevent him from speaking. So much for the freedom
of speech that liberals purport to hold so
sacred.
As I've commented before in this column, dissent
makes our country stronger, and is one of the
ideals upon which our democratic system was based
(and which will hopefully be a hallmark of the new
government in Baghdad as well). But when we
disrespect opinions we disagree with to the point
of suppressing their expression, we are no better
than the likes of Saddam Hussein. Freedom of
expression falls before the tyranny of the
righteous, and we all lose.
Development note: I've
noticed that this site doesn't look like it should
in Netscape Navigator. Rather than waste time
jury-rigging it to look right in a
soon-to-be-obsolete browser, I'll just add the
cliché "This site best viewed with Internet
Explorer."
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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Previously...
4/9:
Why
We're Fighting
4/8:
Eucalyptus
Memories
4/7:
Sleep
4/6:
Writing,
Just Not Here
4/5:
Sci-Files
Trivia
4/4:
Sobering
Up
4/3:
Great
White Hope
4/2:
Entropy
4/1:
Peace
on Earth
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