Is hate speech also free speech?

It was 'Survivor' night last night and we have this thing going with our neighbors for a couple of seasons whereby we go to their house or their come to ours beforehand. Last night was at our place and the conversation got around to Don Imus's firing for calling the Rutgers ladies basketball team a racial slur, namely "nappy-headed hors". I don't care that that is part of the 'rap' vernacular and thus invented and used by black rappers everyday. That is not a defense.

To be honest, when I first heard it, I got that 'hors' alluded to whores but I did not get that 'nappy' means kinked hair.

Anyway, our neighbors both thought that Imus had a right to free speech that was protected by the Constitution. Jessica said that people who hate have a right to make hate speech, to say something she does not like or agree with because hate speech is also part of the right to free speech. She said she was Jewish and there are many people who say hateful things about Jewish people that she does not like, but the right to free speech must be protected. Larry and Scott seemed to agree, Larry even saying that many people in America say horrible racist things about Puerto Ricans and he just ignores it or laughs it off. Their argument also followed the line of 'let the market decide', that if people don't like it, they can switch off the radio or TV or not buy the magazine or newspaper, etc.


I could see their point, but in the end I concluded that free speech must indeed be protected but there are some forms of speech that is so abhorrent, so derogatory, so destructive that it is not true speech at all. It is hate or prejudice, uttered to incite a targeted audience, and thus it is dangerous because, when received by that audience who may have the power to take action against the victims of the diatribe, it can lead to bloodshed and even murder. Moreover, the fiction or analogy of people being subjected to hate speech as being people operating in an open market is not applicable. Not everything in our society can be reduced to a question of market forces.

In my mind, the state has a compelling reason to prevent hate speech from occurring and can take all action available to it to remove the speech from the airways. I would even go further and add that the government should take action to remove such speech from private airways, such as those streaming cable TV, satellite radio, etc. into our houses.

I believe we, humans, are in a constant struggle to evolve, to become better, to reach higher levels of justice and compassion for our fellow human beings and hatred, discrimination and bigotry have no place in the evolutionary cycle. Neither does Don Imus's 'jokes.' He went to the trough one time too many and it is just that he pay a price and his time at CBS and MSNBC is now over.

Of course, politicians and other leaders in society should take a look at themselves and ask why they were prepared to overlook his jibes at African-Americans, gays and lesbians, and women in order to appear on his show and get their own messages out in the past yet stated they wouldn't again appear on his program before it was actually canceled. I'd say that is hypocrisy.

Can we hope Rush Limbaugh and others of this ilk are next?

Bringing down Rosie

Well, I guess this has been gathering steam and will undoubtedly gain more so in the wake of the Imus in the Morning debacle for which it looks like he's going to pay with the loss of his job. Rosie O'Donnell, who's known for stirring a bit of controversy, now has some fellow called Ethan Czahor gunning for her. He's started a website and is asking people to sign their names on a petition to have her removed from THE VIEW. The strategy is apparently to get 100,000 signatures (though he appears to be having trouble with false signatures) and then approach the show's advertisers and demand that pull their advertising dollars.

I took a driveby his site and it looks pretty slick, though I came off with the impression he's a bit of a misguided chappie who needs to do a bit of living before appointing himself to the task of determining who's a patriot in the United States. Of course, he could also be shrewdly trying to build up a bit of a buzz and land himself a job on the Fox News Network or with a right-wing chat show. In that case, I wish him luck. They deserve such a talent.

His beef is that Rosie is unpatriotic and not a proper American by spouting her mouth about a possible governmental conspiracy and the inability of fire to melt steel at the World Trade Center. I don't watch the show and didn't see her rant about that, nor do I know if fire can melt steel or not. He also says she's anti-Christian.

I had a like-dislike relationship with Rosie that comes down ultimately on the side of more liking than disliking her. Sometimes I find her a little unpolished but I've disliked her temporarily only because I once left a message on her blog telling her about my newly released novel when it came out in 2004 and asking if she'd like a copy and was pissed when she didn't get back to me. By hey, it was self-interest and I got over it because it may not have been her cup of tea anyway. Besides, she was off the air then and I'm sure thousands of people leave that kind of thing on her blog. To tell the truth, I never went back to see if she left a message.

I like her because she stands up for what she believes and is unafraid to speak her mind and take on bullies, something I can imagine she's had to deal with growing up on Long Island. She's also hilarious and I like hilarity. I so enjoyed her spat with Donald Trump, especially when she did the exaggerated comb-over on the view to poke fun at his ridiculous hairstyle.

So Ethan should get over himself and concentrate on getting a real job and stop trying to court the liberal vote to your cause by saying you once voted for John Kerry but regret it now. It's unpatriotic to try to stifle free speech. Go to a good law school and bone up on the Constitution and Bill of rights...if you've got the grades to get in, of course.