Tuesday, March 6, 2007

goose and gander.

As we all know, Jim Zumbo learned a painful lesson about free speech a few weeks back: you have the right to speak your mind, but you have no right to an audience, nor a right to be shielded from the consequences of that speech.

A bunch of whiners criticized gun owners for boycott calls, and companies like Remington for withdrawing their sponsorships of Zumbo. They said it was "censorship".

Now they have a chance of proving the consistency of their position: Ann Coulter, a darling of the right-wingers is starting to lose money for exercising her own right to free speech.

Quick, Informed Blue Staters! To the rescue!

For the record: I dislike Ann Coulter and John Edwards, but I support the right of that shrill little harpy to exercise free speech. I also support the right of the companies involved to take their ad money somewhere else, just like I supported Remington's right to pull the dollar rug out from underneath Jim Zumbo's feet. The principle doesn't change just because you like or dislike the speaker...the First Amendment recognizes the right to free speech; it doesn't recognize the right to an audience.

No comments:

Post a Comment