In my previous article on the Imus sacking, I said “good riddance” to him, but I also said that his sacking was a blow to free speech. Imus and the other ‘shockjocks’ do a disservice to Talk Radio and their mindless offensiveness to all and sundry brings Talk Radio into disrepute.
There is a parallel with historians who deny the Holocaust and in the process prevent those who want to pursue genuine historical research from writing objectively on Hitler, his Nazis and the Jews. The shockjocks and the Holocaust denyers provide the enemies of free speech and honest enquiry with an opportunity to stifle all opponents through guilt by association.
On this website, both Mr. Radical and Mr. Right are students of history and have no doubt about the monstrosity of the Hitler regime or the Nazi intention of wiping the Jews from the face of the earth, but we do not support laws that ban silly ‘rewritten history’ books or political works like ‘Mein Kampf’. We think the influence of such books is hugely exaggerated. Few read ‘Mein Kampf’ in Hitler’s Germany, though many bought it, and few read Das Kapital past the first page.
If books are written that are untrue and based on wrong research, or are intentionally propagandist and dishonest (which many by Leftist writers are), then other books and articles will soon challenge them. We would not advocate banning the Koran, though it carries a dangerous message, for we must trust our own counter arguments and the good sense of our people. Being exposed to conflicting opinions and arguments carries risks but the alternative is worse, for it transfers powers over information to arrogant and dangerous people.
For a couple of decades until 9/11 there was a general belief that totalitarianism was a thing of the past, buried with Hitler and Stalin and expiring in China under the pressure of markeplace economics.
The emergence of Islamic Imperialism has shattered that belief, at least for those on the Right, for the Islamists are unequivocally totalitarian in intent. They are fanatically devoted to extending Islam into every corner of life and to removing all dissenters from the face of the earth.
The lesson for all of us is that totalitarianism has great appeal to both those who seek power and those who seek certainty. Modern techniques of communication not only afford us dissenters ways of dissenting, but also provide the tools of mass oppression and suppression.
Last night I watched a portion of Bill O’Reilly on Fox. He is not popular with many conservative commentators, presumably because he does not toe an orthodox Republican Party line. I rarely see him, but when I do, I am struck by how well he applies common sense to issues and so often asks the questions of guests that I would like to ask. He is terrier-like when it comes to answers. Last night he covered the Virginia Tech shootings and then moved on to the cruel slaughter of policemen and others by terrorists in Iraq. The Islamic terrorists have posted another video of their barbarism for the world to see.
O’Reilly was outraged that all over the world, commentators are using the Virginia Tech shooting spree to denigrate the USA, yet the barbarism of the Islamists arouses little, if any, condemnation. I share his outrage, which struck me as both sincere and justifiable. The answer, is of course, that a Leftist Media Class largely controls the news and directs hatred against the USA (and its President) and is not at all outraged by Islamic brutality.
This brings me back to Imus. His sacking over some trivial remarks was an exercise of power by the Leftist Media Class, and the political correctness that is the both the mechanism and the vehicle for suppressing free speech, is totalitarian in intent and direction. The Leftist Media Class that now rules is frustrated by conservative Talk Radio, Fox News and the Internet. The Imus sacking is simply a step towards the real goal of suppressing people like Limbaugh and O’Reilly, and ultimately, all dissenting (conservative, Christian and Nationalist) views.
It is the contention of Mr. Radical and Mr. Right that the Leftist Media Class cannot, indeed dare not, tolerate any challenge to its monopoly. Those whose impulse is totalitarian have to silence dissent and truth. We should not be surprised that our ruling class is not outraged by Islamic totalitarianism, for they have something in common, just as Hitler and Stalin had a mutual admiration and could make an unpricipled pact to dissect Poland and make common cause against democracies.
Political Correctness is not merely an irritant, or a joke, or a misplaced enthusiasm that can be modified by an appeal to reason. It is the means for silencing dissent until the ruling class has the power of totalitarianism.
Like O’Reilly, we should constantly and publicly express our outrage about the barbaric activities of the Islamists and we should speak and write uninhibited by political correctness at every opportunity. Imus apologized to Sharpton and so is not worth fighting for, but if he had been defiant, we should have supported his exercise of free speech.
Incidentally, two things worth noting. The killer at Virginia Tech was a Korean so why should US society be held solely accountable for his impulses. Secondly, the Islamists are worse than Hitler and Stalin, who went to great lengths to conceal their crimes. The gas chambers and the genocide of Jews and others were shrouded in secrecy. Even the Nazis recognized that their crimes were too bad to reveal to the outside world. Stalin and his communist henchmen also went to great lengths to hide their death camps and their despicable deeds. The Islamists have no shame, but flaunt their cruelties before the world. These people have no place amongst the human race and we should be merciless in eradicating them.