Are Free Speech & Free Press Really Valued?

Recent questions have arisen regarding free speech where the so-called liberals have violated their own battle cry principles. In New York City, an Imam that serves as a chaplain for the NYC Department of Correnctions was dismissed because of remarks made in Tuscon, AZ, in a meeting that had nothing to do with his duties as an NYC official/employee. While those remarks are dispicable, hateful and inherently skewed away from all reality, we must allow free speech to be free speech. While a private company may have had the inherent right to dismiss an employee on the basis of "image as a commodity," especially under the "employment at will" doctrine (which is inherently anti-worker/anti-labor). However, New York City is a governmental entity. The Bill of Rights encompasses basic freedoms that all governments should endorse and protect. Indeed, the 14th Amendment extends the obligation to do so to the states, and the state constitutions extend the obligation to municipal and county governments.

The Mayor and the Imam

When a government employee says "the greatest terrorists in the world occupy the White House," he is bound to raise some hackles, but should it be a dismissible offense? The chief chaplain for the New York City Corrections Department, Imam Umar Abdul-Jalil, made that remark in a speech last year in Tucson before a group of Muslim students. For good measure, he also took a shot at "Zionists of the media." What made the case seminal was Mayor Michael Bloomberg's response. He arrived at a Solomonic solution and, in the process, also found his voice on an issue that has challenged his administration in the past: free speech.

In an unexpectedly stirring defense of First Amendment rights, Mr. Bloomberg took wide-ranging swipes at the right and the left for stifling the airing of unpopular or offensive opinions. He stood up for immigrants, the free press, fair elections and justice. He rang the bell for intellectual freedom and for the right to criticize the government.

Mr. Abdul-Jalil will keep his $76,600-a-year job, but the mayor announced that he had been suspended without pay for two weeks for his failure to disclose that he had been speaking as a private citizen, not as a city employee. It was a fair outcome. The imam chose his words poorly, at the least. But those comments occupied brief moments in remarks that mostly encouraged Muslims to read the Koran and decried the high levels of incarceration in the United States. And the speech was only one event in a career that Jewish chaplains and other clerics at the Corrections Department have described as exemplary.

While I am sure that most New Yorkers would agree with the statement that this Imam is "whacked" and is a racist, prejudiced SOB, the fact is that Mayor Bloomberg stood on an American principle that is embedded in our Constitution. Bloomberg certainly has personal reasons to hate the speech offered by this Imam. Being a Jewish-American from Medford, Massachusetts, the words of the Imam cetainly smack hard against his religious and ethnic origins. But kudos to Michael Bloomberg for looking beyond the prejudice and hate and straight-forward into the principle.

We need not worry about the Imam and his hate. There will be reasoned people, even among his own religious group, that will see the hate and erroneous statements in his speech. Extremism always betrays itself. Insofar as the Imam's hatefulness is manifested in speech and opinion, and does not manifest in hostile actions or terrorism, then we ought to embrace the American core values... and dismiss the speech and the speaker as a crackpot nut case rather than dismissing the principle that even hateful crackpot nut cases get to speak their minds in a free society.

Then there is the case against blogger Ben Domenech, a hateful, racist bigot that got a job at the Washingto Post and is published often throught Regnery Publishing. There is a significant backlash agains the Post for this blogger's ideas and giving his voice a platform via one of the most widely read American media outlets.

Once again, Domenech's words are illogical, hateful, bigotted, out of touch, extremist and often erroneous. But his right to be that way is an absolute. In fact, we should thank the Washington Post for making the error of hiring him and allowing him a voice thought its powerful outlets. The post has inadvertently awakened many Americans to the reality that many of Domenech's ilk present to us... and many are published through Regnery Press.

Bob Novak is sometimes published via Regnery Press. Ann Coulter is also touted by Regnery. While Novak is not as offensive as someone like Domenech or Coulter, he is often far-fetched and erroneous, and is almost always on the side of the current administration, the current batch of ultra-conservatives operating under the thumb of the "Republican base," and the "family values" thumpers. Coulter, however, is an outrageous bigot that makes statements that, in my view, pander only to the most extreme versions of politics, Christianity and conservativism. She is so stuck on herself that she conducted her own poll that proudly declared that "most Americans" enjoy and endorse her writings. In my experience of America, there are far too many Americans that have never read Coulter's writings to make that poll anything but self-serving and an example of a poorly constructed and poorly conducted poll.

Perhaps the increased awareness of the tripe and diatribes produced by the likes of Domenech, Coulter and others--and published by Regnery Publishing--will cause many Americans to boycott those media outlets that insist that these folks have anything legitimate to say. However, no matter how illegitimate we may view the words of these folks, and no matter how skewed we may actually perceive their views, we must support the principle of the First Amendment... Free speech and free press even for those we find offensive, hateful, erroneous and troubled in the mind.

Some Readers See Red Over Post.com's New Blogger

The Washington Post Co.'s Web operation has touched off an online furor by hiring as a blogger a 24-year-old former Bush administration aide who co-founded a conservative site and recently referred to Coretta Scott King as a "communist."

Ben Domenech, an editor at the conservative Regnery Publishing, said he regrets the King reference, which he insists was tongue-in-cheek, and that the reaction to his new "Red America" blog is "a little meaner" than he expected.

More than 1,000 people and a Democratic member of Congress have sent the newspaper letters of complaint. The decision to hire Domenech was made by Washingtonpost.com, an Arlington-based division that works with the newspaper but is editorially independent.

Jim Brady, executive editor of Washingtonpost.com, said Domenech was hired because "we were completely unrepresented by a social conservative voice." He said his goal "is to provide voices from as many perspectives as possible" and that Domenech is not intended to balance anyone in particular on his staff.

Domenech is "controversial" and the fact that liberals object to his hiring "shouldn't really be a shock to anybody," Brady said.

Said Domenech: "I'm there to do opinion. That's what I do. I'm not a journalist."

In a letter yesterday, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) said: "Balanced coverage and ideologically diverse editorials have long been hallmarks of responsible journalism. If The Post would like to appear evenhanded, I strongly suggest the Web site launch a similarly partisan liberal blog, 'Blue America.' "

As a result of the flack over his writing and the blog on the Post's media outlets, Domenech has resigned from the Post. The marketplace of ideas is alive and well, as is the economic power of the consumer. Therefore we must also advocate that we reject the effort to call the Washington Post on the carpet for hiring Domenech.

Statement from Media Matters for America President David Brock on Resignation of Washington Post Blogger Ben Domenech

Today, David Brock, President & CEO of Media Matters for America, released the following statement in response to Republican operative Ben Domenech's resignation from WashingtonPost.com:

"We at Media Matters are pleased that Ben Domenech will no longer be employed by the Post, but serious questions remain about why he was originally hired. The Post still needs to explain why a partisan operative who admits he is not a journalist and who has a history of racially charged rhetoric, homophobic bigotry, and serial plagiarism was given a platform on Washingtonpost.com in the first place. We look forward to a full explanation of these and related issues by the Post."

Complete Media Matters coverage of the Ben Domenech controversy

As a side note, Lou Dobbs has reported on the picky habits of Vice President Dick Cheney while on the road. One of which was that he insists that the television be pre-set to Fox News, with the statement that Cheney only watches Fox News as his source for news. Great Ceasar's Ghost! We have a president that doesn't read [newspapers] and a vice president that cannot choose a reliable source of news reporting.

LOU DOBBS: Smoking Gun Reports On Cheney's Travel Habits

Vice President Dick Cheney has been busy delivering speeches all around the country on, of course, behalf of the Bush administration and GOP candidates. And the vice president apparently knows what he wants when he's on the road.

The [The Smoking Gun] Web site obtained the vice president's backstage demands for his hotel downtime suites. That's actually what they're called, downtime suites.

First, all of the lights in the suite, should you want to take notes, must be turned on before the vice president arrives. You may remember the administration is urging energy conservation.

Next, there must be a microwave oven in the suite. No word on whether it should be properly shielded for the vice president's pacemaker.

He also wants the thermostat set at 68 degrees. Four to six bottles of water must be on hand. And if Mrs. Cheney is there, she requires two bottles of sparkling water, either Calistoga or that popular French import Perrier.

And the vice president requires that all televisions in his suite be preset to FOX News. The vice president watches nothing but FOX News on all the sets in his downtime suite.

We found that at least interesting. We hope you did as well.

While I don't see this information newsworthy, it does provide some insight into the small-mindedness of our vice president.