You have probably heard about the dreadful things Martin Bashir said about Sarah Palin on MSNBC. I can’t repeat them here, but his remarks were vile, disgusting and scripted. They were not off-the-cuff remarks.
Bashir lost his job. Instead of being fired, he should have been forced to confront Palin and apologize in person. Because he made his remarks on TV, his apology to her shouild have been made on TV.
I am generally opposed to firing people over speech. You don’t convert or change people that way. Silencing them doesn’t change their point of view.
Our political language has been corrupted. Political correctness allows people to hide behind their real beliefs and feelings. It is one of several reasons why you can’t find what a political leader really thinks. What you hear is more likely to be poll-tested remarks that bear little resemblance to what he or she actually believes.
As my friend Nat Hentoff has said: the answer to speech you don't like is not less speech, but more speech. Bashir hasn't been changed. He's only been silenced. That doesn't help anyone.
In Lancaster, Pennsylavnia, I'm Cal Thomas.
Publication date: December 11, 2013
