Posted on 04/18/2007 5:18:19 AM PDT by Interesting Times
The Imus affair was not about Don Imus; it was — and more importantly, is — about the motives of those who brought him down. And we should be familiar with those motives, because they recur throughout history. They were well articulated in a once-famous speech:
"Since virtue (good citizenship) and equality are the soul of the republic... it follows that the first rule of your political conduct must be to relate all of your measures to the maintenance of equality and to the development of virtue...
"What is our goal? The enforcement of the constitution for the benefit of the people. Who will our enemies be? The vicious and the rich. What means will they employ? Slander and hypocrisy... The people must therefore be enlightened. But what are the obstacles to the enlightenment of the people? Mercenary writers who daily mislead them with impudent falsehoods. What conclusions may be drawn from this? These writers must be proscribed as the most dangerous enemies of the people. Right-minded literature must be scattered about in profusion...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Eggs, omelet.
But we all know that "hate speech" is in the ear of the listener. In Europe, citizens can be — and have been — criminally prosecuted for calling elements of Islam violence-prone. The great crusading journalist Camille Paglia was forced to live out her last cancer-ridden days in exile to avoid paying the penal price for her honest (and accurate) expressions on that topic.
Ouch. He means Oriana Fallaci, of course...
Mr. Imus may be an imperfect martyr — but the malign forces that brought him down must be opposed ferociously.
Amen and amen.
I read it in my paper copy this morning.
Good one, Tony.
First they came for Imus........
I was engaged in a debate over the Constitutional legality of Roe vs Wade and got a similar response from a teary-eyed and emotionally distraught woman. She admitted to not caring because the end justified the means for her too.
I called the Times and asked them to correct it.
One Italian name sounds like the next!:^)
Blankley's an excellent writer. He'll be rather chagrined to have this mistake pointed out.
Thanks John, where were you a week ago when he needed that support? A week late and a testical short.
Glad to hear that Camille is still alive...
BTTT
I had not seen your comment and wondered about Camille too. Tony’s going to kick himself. Or Camille’s going to kick him.
Excellent article !!!
Sounds like something Eleanor Clift would say! And mean!
bump for later
John Kerry probably really does miss the show because Imus thinks George Bush is stupid and called Dick Cheney a 'war criminal' everyday. I actually tuned into the show for 15 years, but every once in a while I'd take a break.
I don't think Imus is a liberal, but on the other hand, he had mostly liberal politicians, reporters, and authors on everyday.
Imus could be a nasty guy who trashed some of his co-workers at MSNBC and NBC when he was on the air so they probably don't miss him the same way John Kerry, Russert, Dave Gregory, Howard Fineman, Frank Rich, etc. would...IMO
He forgot to mention who had the most to gain by silencing Imus. If you’re having trouble figuring that one out, my hint is he used to refer to her as “Satan”.
Yes, he does miss it. They all do. But the fact that he waits until the issue is off the headlines before he decides to offer token support just turns my stomache. I’m not surprised by it though.
That said; was it political correctness that this speaker does not identify his 'counter-part' that day? Why not at least name one of the 'malign forces' when you meet one. . .head on?
Bingo!
Thanks... somewhere in Washington an editor is kicking himself.
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