In some respects, there’s nothing wrong with MSNBC’s firing of Pat Buchanan. Because we live in a free society, the commentator was free to publish a book that demeans homosexuals and non-Christians, and MSNBC was free to fire him. Arguably, no one committed a crime here. So, why did this supposed non-event trigger such as firestorm? Read the rest of this entry »
We embrace freedom of speech as an abstract principle, but we often hate nothing more than a concrete human being speaking and writing freely. Shame on MSNBC for firing Pat Buchanan for his hateful beliefs and writings. Buchanan is right: much of the hate speech that compelled MSNBC to fire him was nothing more than a restatement of traditional Catholic beliefs. But that doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter at all. Hate is hate, whatever its pretext. But Buchanan’s firing suggests that any person speaking in a public forum can only enjoy freedom of speech as long as his exercise of this freedom does not rise beyond Abe Foxman’s or Al Sharpton’s comfort zone. This is silly.
Several stories in top-tier U.S. and Russian media chronicle the increasingly vehement anti-American rhetoric in Vladimir Putin’s presidential campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
