McCain's Freedom Of Speech

This weekend, Senator John McCain attempted to give a commencement address at the New School in New York. He met with some resistance, to say the least.

"Rude college kids and left-wing professors are hardly a new story. But the ugliness of the New School crowd toward Mr. McCain reveals the peculiar rage that now animates so many on the political left. Dozens of faculty and students turned their back on the Senator, others booed and heckled, and a senior invited to speak threw out her prepared remarks and mocked their invited guest as he sat nearby. Some 1,200 had signed petitions asking that Mr. McCain be disinvited."

McCain submitted a copy of the speech for publication on the WSJ's Op-Ed page. The title of the piece is "Let Us Argue: The speech the Angry Left tried to suppress." I read through it this morning and it's a good speech. A very good speech. In fact, here's one of the best parts:

"We have our disagreements, we Americans. We contend regularly and enthusiastically over many questions: over the size and purposes of our government; over the social responsibilities we accept in accord with the dictates of our conscience and our faithfulness to the God we pray to; over our role in the world and how to defend our security interests and values in places where they are threatened. These are important questions; worth arguing about. We should contend over them with one another. It is more than appropriate, it is necessary that even in times of crisis, especially in times of crisis, we fight among ourselves for the things we believe in. It is not just our right, but our civic and moral obligation."

Sen. McCain is talking about free speech - free political speech. So how hypocritical is it that these words come from a man who was the chief sponsor of legislation (McCain -Feingold) that severely curtailed the freedom of political speech in this country?

Note to Sen. McCain:

i-ro-ny n., pl. -nies.: An expression or utterance marked by such a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.

Posted by: Gary at 09:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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