Caution: Group-think Ahead
by Ben Dobson (11-11-01)

Now that two months have passed since September 11, it may well be worth a look at the hysteria embedded in our social fabric in the days and weeks that immediately followed.

Of particular concern was a lock-down on free speech in this country. Just as our president paraded around telling Americans that the terrorists were attacking the freedoms we cherish, his press secretary, Ari Fleischer, was telling the public that "There are reminders to all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do, and this is not a time for remarks like that."

Fleischer was referring to comments made by Politically Incorrect host Bill Maher who was discussing whether the acts by terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon were cowards. He said, "We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away..." then said, "staying in an airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."

Say what you will about Maher's comments. Regardless of where your opinion is on the matter, Maher certainly had a right to offer it. Ari Fleischer should probably have been fired on the spot, considering that when the official transcript of his press conference was released, it didn't include his remarks. When that sparked questions from the press pool, Anne Womack, an assistant to Mr. Fleischer, she acknowledged that the transcript did vary from his original mistakes, and the New York Times quoted her as saying, it was "a transcription error."

Right.

That's a great excuse if you are living in George Orwell's story of 1984.

The problem is worse: major sponsors of Politically Incorrect like Sears Roebuck and Company and the FedEx Corporation pulled their advertising, not wanting to be associated with a show that may not be seen as "patriotic." All the while, these companies were saying one thing demonstrably clear to their patrons: We don't value free speech, and we will penalize anyone who speaks against the current wave of public opinion. The very corporations that were founded under the ideals of the United States were the first to shed their loyalty to one of the few venues left in network television where a variety of viewpoints are encouraged and debated.

Equally chilling, Washington's ABC-Affiliate WJLA yanked the show indefinitely. The Sinclair Broadcasting Corporation refused to air it on their affiliates. In several cities, infomercials ran in the show's place. So much for upholding their promise to provide programming in the public interest. It is my view that if people do not want to watch Bill Maher's politically incorrect comments, they will tune out and the show will disappear on its own. To the contrary, his ratings doubled despite the number of stations that had stopped carrying the show. I don't think it should be left up to an individual station owner or group to decide for me whether or not a controversial TV show should be allowed into my living room.

In a country so eager to sue the moment one feels his or her rights have been violated, why isn't there a class-action lawsuit against our government and our media conglomerates for stifling free speech and open debate? During times like these, submission to the authority of the government, or the notion that the military knows what is right is outright dangerous. Think of the atrocities that came out post-Vietnam, and which are just beginning to surface now in relation to the Gulf War a decade ago. Walter Cronkite told the Toronto Star "When [the Germans] yielded up their free speech so easily [to Hitler], they became responsible for what the government did in their name. We not only have a right to know what ‘our boys and girls' are doing in our name. We have a duty to know what the army is doing in our name." Now, more than ever, is the time our country needs to allow every possible viewpoint and every dissenter to protect everyone's interests in all pockets of American life. Your opinion, regardless of what side you are on, counts. Don't let anyone stifle it. That's what being an "American" is about.