A former Congressman says:
Let's hope that when the Islamists next strike they first behead the appeasing cowards at CNN, MSNBC, etal who refused to show the cartoons.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 14, 2015
I'm going to hold my nose and come to the defense of the propagandizers at CNN and MSNBC. There is absolutely nothing wrong with censoring yourself. These "news" networks calculated that it would not be very smart to show the new Charlie Hebdo cover.
Putting up the cover might have pissed off the wrong people and put the lives of those who work at the network in danger. Then again, they may not have received any blowback at all. The main factor is that it was up to CNN and MSNBC to make that decision.
The ability to speak freely does not relinquish you of responsibility for what you say. There's always a cost. Sometimes the cost can be too high to take the risk.
Suppose you're walking down the street and come up to a gang of LBJ's great-grandkids. You approach one and call his mother a whore. In a matter of seconds, you'll be beaten to a pulp.
Suppose you're walking down the street and come up to a gang of LBJ's great-grandkids. You approach one and call his mother a whore. In a matter of seconds, you'll be beaten to a pulp.
Government will not be there to protect you, and neither will something called "free speech". You pissed off the great-grandkids, and you paid a price for it. Government will stop by afterwards to mop up your blood, and look to capitalize on the incident by calling for more powers to itself.
As with everything, we all have to "count the costs" when we speak. Only a statist mindset would come to believe that there are no costs to what comes out of our mouths. The statist version of "free speech" is equivalent to "free education" and "free healthcare". Nonsense.
As much as I despise CNN & MSNBC, this was their call to make, and only their call to make.
As much as I despise CNN & MSNBC, this was their call to make, and only their call to make.
Chris Rossini is author of Set Money Free: What Every American Needs To Know About The Federal Reserve. Follow @chrisrossini on Twitter.
The contemporary conservative will trade away liberty and self-determination (even for their supposed friend, business) for "security" at the drop of a hat.
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