I was going to comment on this article (via Brothers Judd) about how young people don’t believe in free speech as described by the First Admendment
At least that’s what they think of the First Amendment once it’s explained to them. After interviewing 100,000 teens in the largest study of its kind, the John S. and James C. Knight Foundation reports fast shrinking respect for bedrock constitutional freedoms of speech, press and assembly. Among the findings widely commented on last week—but not widely enough—only 51 percent said newspapers should be allowed to publish content without state approval. Three-quarters actually thought flag burning was illegal—and didn’t care—while almost one-fifth said Americans should not be allowed to express unpopular views.
Naturally this is blamed on conservatives and their efforts to “silence” Ward Churchill by the odious tactic of publicizing his statements. I have a slightly different theory, but I was preempted by BroJudd regular “Bart”:
Everywhere a 17 year old looks nowadays there are rules concerning his ‘speech’ rights so why shouldn’t he believe that it’s OK to restrict unpopular speech. You can’t open up a Christian club in most public schools, even those where the entire student body is made up of Christians. You can’t wear an 8 Ball jacket because it is a gang symbol(I’m not Mr Blackwell so I will not try to imagine why someone would want to wear an 8 Ball jacket). You can’t even play ‘Smear the Queer’ because someone’s widdle feelings might get hurt.
That’s the real lesson being taught by the excessive “tolerance” of modern American public education.
Northwest [Airlines] got into a feud with the wholesalers in 2002 when a Wayne County beer distributor caught the airline paying to have beer trucked from Minnesota to Metro Airport for departing flights. Northwest said it was cheaper than buying from Michigan distributors.
[…]
A liquor commission investigator determined that the airline was illegally importing alcohol into Michigan and was breaking the law by purchasing from an unlicensed source.
[…]
Northwest, the dominant carrier at Metro, argued that it wasn’t breaking the law because the alcohol from out of state was meant for passengers in interstate commerce, not for consumption in Michigan. Therefore, state law did not apply, the airline said.
And, the airline pointed out, it was buying beer from in-state wholesalers to serve at its four WorldClubs at the airport.
Sadly, I’ve been persuaded that such protectionist measures are in fact Constitutional. The 21st Admendment language is somewhat ambiguous, but overall the case for such restrictions being permitted is (IMHO) significantly stronger than the case against. There isn’t much of a slippery slope either, as the basis for this exemption to the Commerce Clause is the explicit mention of “intoxicating liquors” in the Admendment.
[source]
I thank you very much for being here tonight. Let me also thank Fidel Castro. In the earliest days of CNN, when CNN was meant to be seen only in the United States, the enterprising Fidel Castro was pirating and watching CNN in Cuba. Fidel was intrigued by CNN. He wanted to meet the person responsible. So Ted Turner, who at that point had never traveled to a Communist country or knowingly met a Communist, [went to Havana]. It was big deal for Ted and during the discussions Castro suggested that CNN be made available to the entire world. In fact it was that seed, that idea that grew into CNN International, which is now seen in every country and territory on the planet.
— Eason Jordan, former Chief News Executive for CNN
I suppose this goes in the “what did you expect?” category.
A BBC producer has died after being shot in the Somalia capital Mogadishu yesterday just weeks after an Islamic cleric reportedly issued a fatwa against westerners entering one of the world’s most lawless cities.
Kate Peyton, 39, a producer in the BBC’s Johannesburg bureau, had just arrived in Somalia to make a series of reports about the country when she was hit at least once in the back by a shot from a pistol as she left her hotel.
How likely do you think it is that this kind of thing will be brought up at media conferences in Davos? Smears like Eason Jordan’s not only tar the USA military but also whitewash the people who commit acts like this. Is the Old Media elite so obsessed with anti-Americanism that this, too, is an acceptable price to pay?