Having Our Say

Posted on | June 9, 2010 | 1 Comment

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”

That’s the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. We like to reference it a lot: when we want to to wear a certain tee-shirt or fly a certain flag or when we want to or do say something outrageous, whatever the consequences. We tend to take it for granted that we can just say anything, even when what we say might upset or offend someone else. Not every country guarantees that right. But what happens when even our own government forgets the promise of that amendment?

On Monday, longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas resigned amid a furor of anger over comments she made last week about Israel (a resignation, it should be noted, made in response to intense political pressure).

I don’t agree with what Ms. Thomas said regarding Israel. Her comment was in poor taste. But the point she was trying to make, the point beneath her attention-attracting words, was her opinion. A lot of powerful people took offense at that opinion, but it was an opinion nonetheless. And I can’t help but worry that her resignation sets a dangerous precedent for punishing people for having an opinion.

Any time we open our mouths, especially if we’re offering an opinion, we run the risk of angering someone, somewhere. There are going to be times when we say something that someone else might find offensive. Are we supposed to apologize for everything we say, just to cover our bases?

It seems to me we’re so obsessed with being politically correct that we no longer simply say what we think. Instead, we have to mentally run through all the possible ramifications before we ever utter a sound. It’s gotten to the point where you can’t really tell what a politician believes because his or her soundbites are so carefully crafted to avoid even the hint of anything that resembles an actual opinion.

Opinions are just that – opinions. They’re not based on facts or evidence or anything else you can prove. By their very definition, opinions are subjective. Of course some people are going to disagree. That’s just the way opinions work.

Opinions of any kind obviously stir up a great deal of passion and emotion. As a result, we try to be respectful and polite. We try to recognize that other people may have other opinions and that we won’t always agree on a certain subject. Disagreeing with someone’s opinion – personal, professional or otherwise – does not give us the ability to force them to apologize for leave a job. When we start asking people to censor themselves or to sacrifice their opinions or convictions, simply because they might offend one portion of the population, then we’ve got problems.

There are a lot of people who say things publicly (i.e., Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Dick “Darth” Cheney, Karl Rove, and George W. Bush – please note that this list is not exhaustive) that offend me. Anytime they open their mouths, I feel an irrational urge to slam my head against the wall in an effort to expel their words from my brain. But I also know that there are people in this world who don’t find Hannity, Beck, O’Reilly or any of the others offensive. Do I have the right to demand an apology from these pundits, even if I know others wouldn’t?

We’ve become so concerned with making sure we don’t anger or aggravate anyone that so much of what we do say has little meaning at all. Eventually the world might as well be a silent place, as we chose to stay quiet instead of speaking out for fear of what might happen if we open our mouths.

Ms. Thomas obviously should have expressed herself better, or else she wouldn’t be in this mess. But I don’t believe her comments warranted the end of an impressive and illustrious career. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution still guarantees its citizens the right to free speech, even when that free speech really pisses us off.

“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” – Evelyn Beatrice Hall

[Note: Michael Fauntroy has a great article on Huffington Post with some similar ideas. You should read it.]

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

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