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TechnographHate speech is slippery slope
By Olga Malkiman, Sophomore in Business
Posted: 5/2/08 Section: Letters
I am appalled the DI views the decision to keep Timothy Brumleve's programming on air as a victory for freedom of speech.
While educated citizens may see past his slander and know to change the channel, they are not the concern. The concern is people ignorant of Jewish heritage who can be misled and persuaded by anti-Semitic messages.
Public access channels are funded with the same tax dollars that all citizens pay, including Jewish citizens, who then get to watch that money turn around and slap them in face.
Tuesday you wrote about eliminating hate crimes. Hateful speech is the beginning of a slippery slope to crime. Are you implying it's OK to preempt hate crimes so long as you don't commit them? Brumleve takes advantage of a community so concerned with upholding this "freedom" that it is ignoring the civil right of the Jewish citizens to live in an environment that doesn't proliferate hateful and intolerant messages.
Brumleve abused his right by inaccurately titling his programs and doctoring credits and titles in that programming to confuse the matter of how he sources his shows. Now, the sources are known. He shows biased remarks from Louis Farrakhan (Nation of Islam's leader) and Rev. Ted Pike's comments accusing the Jewish people of crucifying Jesus and controlling the mass media.
In the case Beauharnais v. Illinois, the Supreme Court held that defamation of a race is not protected by the First Amendment.
I feel it is my duty to remind you, editors, about what freedom of speech guarantees.
It entitles Mr. Brumleve to share his opinion. It does not entitle him to his own facts. The last time we stood by and let someone exercise their freedom with similar "facts" in the 1940s, six million Jews died.
While educated citizens may see past his slander and know to change the channel, they are not the concern. The concern is people ignorant of Jewish heritage who can be misled and persuaded by anti-Semitic messages.
Public access channels are funded with the same tax dollars that all citizens pay, including Jewish citizens, who then get to watch that money turn around and slap them in face.
Tuesday you wrote about eliminating hate crimes. Hateful speech is the beginning of a slippery slope to crime. Are you implying it's OK to preempt hate crimes so long as you don't commit them? Brumleve takes advantage of a community so concerned with upholding this "freedom" that it is ignoring the civil right of the Jewish citizens to live in an environment that doesn't proliferate hateful and intolerant messages.
Brumleve abused his right by inaccurately titling his programs and doctoring credits and titles in that programming to confuse the matter of how he sources his shows. Now, the sources are known. He shows biased remarks from Louis Farrakhan (Nation of Islam's leader) and Rev. Ted Pike's comments accusing the Jewish people of crucifying Jesus and controlling the mass media.
In the case Beauharnais v. Illinois, the Supreme Court held that defamation of a race is not protected by the First Amendment.
I feel it is my duty to remind you, editors, about what freedom of speech guarantees.
It entitles Mr. Brumleve to share his opinion. It does not entitle him to his own facts. The last time we stood by and let someone exercise their freedom with similar "facts" in the 1940s, six million Jews died.
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