Wednesday, May 27, 2009

On talk radio, resisting despotism, and sustaining a free society

John Andrews writes in the May 24 Denver Post about the attitudes that sustain a free society. He quotes Thomas Krannawitter of the Claremont Institute, who cites four indispensable attitudes: "Self-assertion to resist despotism, self-restraint for civil order, self-reliance to prevent dependency, and civic knowledge to unlock participation."

Andrews points out that "Memorial Day, which honors America's war dead, originated in 1868. Half a million whites lost their lives so that 4 million blacks might have liberty." In the process the old stereotypes, and laws to back them up, were found to be wrong. Unfortunately, Andrews writes, "there are always those who prefer censorship to debate." He is referring to efforts by the current administration to squelch talk radio, which promotes all of the above-mentioned attitudes that sustain a free society. Now, as I have written about several times, Andrews points out that "the Federal Communications Commission has talk radio in its sights."

1 comment:

Terri Wagner said...

I find it most ironic that the "side" that claims to want the most freedom is the one that actually wants the most censorship.