Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Saturday, February 12, 2005
The right to remain silent/The duty to speak out
From my latest article:
Submitted for your consideration: “He was prosecuted because of his words. He didn’t harm anybody; he didn’t commit an assault; he didn’t steal; he didn’t engage in any conduct, which directly harmed someone else. So, therefore, he was punished, first and foremost, because of the words he used.”
That’s not Colorado’s Governor Bill Owens taking about Ward Churchill. These are the words of a former assistant district attorney who helped prosecute comedian/social commentator Lenny Bruce. The last line of that quote reads: “We drove him into poverty and used the law to kill him.”
The repressive wrath of state power played a major role in Bruce’s premature death...but Bruce and Churchill are but two of many who have endured the time-honored American tradition of stifling dissent.
From the Founding Father’s Alien and Sedition Act to today’s PATRIOT Act...Ice T has it right when he raps: “Freedom of speech? Just watch what you say.”
To read the complete article, please click here:
http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/mickeyz02122005/
Copyright © 2005-2007 Mickey Z.
