Nick Jimenez

The right to disagree is American

Don't count me as a fan of Bill Maher, the host of "Politically Incorrect," the talk show that tries to be as outrageous as possible on political topics. It's not its politics that turns me off; it's the hour of its broadcast. By the time it airs in the early morning hours, I've long since begun sawing into that second log.
   But Maher, on a Sept. 17 show, was more "politically incorrect" than even he bargained for. In an exchange with a guest who took issue with President Bush's characterization of the terrorists as cowards, Maher said, "We have been cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building - say what you want about it - is not cowardly."
   The proverbial whipped cream hit the fan. The show was deluged with irate e-mail messages. Sponsors dropped their support. Maher has since posted a clarification on the show's web site saying his comments were directed at the politicians behind the military decisions, not the military itself. But those angry callers aren't dissuaded and want Maher's head on a platter, or in the alternative, his job.
   That hasn't been the only instance in which the airing of an opinion by an American that is viewed as critical of the United States or its leadership since Sept. 11 has drawn sharp reaction. The city editor of the Texas City Sun was fired after he wrote a column critical of Bush and the publisher wrote a front-page apology. A University of Texas professor in an op-ed column in the Houston Chronicle wrote that, while he deplored the attacks, he also was angry with "those who have held the power in the United States and have engineered attacks on civilians every bit as tragic." UT president Larry Faulkner received angry e-mails and messages from all over the country, including from alumni who threatened to withhold contributions if the professor wasn't fired. Faulkner called the professor "a fountain of undiluted foolishness."
   Peter Jennings, the ABC anchorman, has drawn his share of sharp arrows for comments he made during the long hours he was on the air reporting the terrorist attacks. A letter writer to the Caller-Times, Patrick Carter of Sandia, interpreted Jennings' description of Bush as "the former governor of Texas" as demeaning and called for Jennings' deportation to Canada, his home country.
   All of these writers and commentators have been labeled unpatriotic, accused of not uniting against the terrorists and even of being traitors. The Chronicle of Higher Education says that the intolerance toward controversial views on college campuses in the wake of Sept. 11 is a "test of academic freedom" that "emerges in what some have called a culture formed around the notion that no one should have to listen to ideas or even facts that upset them."
   Some of what was written or said should never have seen the light of day. The newspaper does this kind of work every day; it's called editing. We cull bad reporting, bad writing, fuzzy thinking and just plain bad taste. But some of what was critical had every right to appear. The writers and commentators who have raised questions about the country's leadership have every right to do so, just as much as the demonstrators who marched last weekend. And we have every right to speak in opposition.
   Marketplace of ideas
   The terrorist attack has made it imperative that we define just exactly what we are about. And debate, free speech, and a vibrant marketplace of ideas is absolutely what we are about. These editorial pages that give a forum for a variety of views, some that I don't agree with, are what democracy is about. It's about accountability. It's about collective wisdom. And it's about being true to our own heritage of not being afraid to debate and consider unpopular opinions.
   Asking tough questions, airing controversial views and reporting unfavorable facts, aren't signs of being un-American. In fact, they are part of the essence of being an American and part of what the terrorists want to destroy. You can bet there are no dissenting views with the Taliban or Osama bin Laden.
  
   Nick Jimenez can be reached by phone at 886-3787 or by e-mail at jimenezn@caller.com.
  
  
  

 
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