Americans are not famous for their fanatical adherence to the 10 Commandments, traffic laws or New Year’s resolutions, so it should come as no surprise that they are happy to junk their fundamental political ideals whenever they are struck by a passing fancy. The documented truth is that the people of the United States hold their Constitution in deep reverence without having any idea what it contains.
Freedom of speech occupies a central place in our constitutional framework, being mentioned prominently in the Bill of Rights and serving as the implied foundation of democracy. But the 1st Amendment often infuriates Americans by letting people express ideas that are salacious, subversive or politically incorrect. What the average American has in mind in supporting free speech is that he should be able to 1) say any idiotic thing in his head and 2) prevent others from doing likewise.
We tend to relegate censorship and suppression to the distant past, when our unenlightened forebears imprisoned pacifists who opposed World War I, hounded communists during the McCarthy era and harassed government critics during the Nixon administration. We flatter ourselves. Two centuries after the ratification of the 1st Amendment, a lot of Americans still have their doubts.
In recent years, Congress has tried to ban “indecency” on the Internet, the Clinton administration has done its best to repeal free speech for tobacco companies, and a constitutional amendment to outlaw desecration of the American flag has come within three votes of clearing Congress. Many Americans think free expression is a new Starbucks blend. A group called the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Freedom of Expression each year presents awards to conspicuous buffoons who fiercely repudiate their duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution. This year, it gave 11 “Jefferson Muzzles” to a variety of government officials who would have served their constituents better if they had gotten their jaws wired shut.
Among them is New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who when he is not loudly berating his critics is exhorting Gothamites to be more civil to their fellow human beings. Shortly after he was re-elected in November, he was displeased to learn that New York Magazine was putting ads on buses and subway cars billing itself as “possibly the only good thing in New York Rudy hasn’t taken credit for.” A mayor with a sense of humor would have proclaimed that he was in fact the main wellspring of the magazine’s high quality. But Giuliani is to humor what Howard Stern is to modesty–not just a stranger but an active adversary.
Taking offense, he ordered the transit agency to remove the ads, and muy pronto. On what possible grounds? Giuliani said New York Magazine had used his name without his permission and damaged his reputation. The magazine sued, and the judge promptly laughed the mayor out of court.
Lord Acton said that power corrupts but neglected to mention that it also induces stupidity. How else do you explain the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control? It threatened to revoke the liquor license of the Palm Springs Convention Center when it scheduled a convention of a nationwide “swingers’ club,” complete with an exhibition of “sensual and erotic art.”
Never mind that the art was all perfectly legal and that no liquor would be served. The department said it had the authority to act to protect “public welfare and morals.” A federal court replied: Go take a cold shower. The convention went forward with no measurable effect on the welfare and morals of Southern Californians.
But as a Texan, I can proudly report that the Lone Star state is not about to let surly New Yorkers and California airheads hog all the glory. The state legislature, which became famous last year for a law prohibiting Oprah Winfrey or anyone else from saying mean things about meat, expanded its censorial mission by forbidding the state government from investing public funds in any business that produces, or owns a share of a company that produces, music describing or celebrating anything from necrophilia to street gangs to racial violence to “degradation” of women.
What–nothing about music that libels hamburgers? Apparently, it didn’t occur to any of the country music fans in the Texas legislature that their ban would affect not only gangsta rappers and heavy-metal rockers but Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, all of whom have recorded stirring ballads about romantic killers.
Maybe the Jefferson Center shouldn’t be so hard on these self-appointed thought police. Without them, our public life would be duller and our newspapers would provide less amusement. And as Mark Twain said, “Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them, the rest of us could not succeed.” Before we laugh at these fools, though, we might remember who put them in charge.
