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July 4, 2008
Guest Blogger Greg Todd Responds
I have a somewhat different view, since I regard Rush Limbaugh as a more serious menace than you probably do. To refer to him as a "wingnut" puts you in the camp of almost everyone I know in New York City, who regards him as a laughable fool. He is no fool, and he is far from laughable.
The political writers that the founding fathers looked to for guidance were all well versed in their classical history, and knew how quickly the democracies and republics of the classical world had been turned to tyranny and empire by the power of demagogues to sway the masses. Their ideas of government were designed to buffer the downsides of a true democracy with the stability of republican forms of government. And their assessment of liberty of the press was not the unilateral, no-restrictions-of-any-kind approach we now seem to take for granted in this country.
David Hume, in "Of the Liberty of the Press", notes the risk of an unfettered demagogue to the republic -- but believes that the demagogue cannot take hold of the minds of the people because the demagogue's words will be read in the privacy of the library.
We need not dread from this liberty any such ill consequences as followed from the harangues of the popular demagogues of Athens and tribunes of Rome. A man reads a book or pamphlet alone and coolly. There is none present from whom he can catch the passion by contagion. He is not hurried away by the force and energy of action.
I read this as a QUALIFIED endoresement of the freedom of speech.
And I see the Fairness Doctrine as an attempt to rectify the dangers which Hume and the founders well understood - because they knew their ancient history.
Americans today do not know their ancient history.
I have spent too many hours listening to Rush Limbaugh, and have heard too many smart, intelligent people parrot EXACTLY his words, not to understand the mind power exerted over people stuck in their cars, driving in traffic, angry at their fellow drivers and with their lot in life.
We are unwise to laugh at Rush Limbaugh. We have, in fact, too much freedom of the press in this country. The public figure doctrine needs to be revised, the Fairness Doctrine needs to be revived, there must be brakes and restraints on falsehoods and deception, otherwise they will propagate like bacteria through a population that we Upper East Siders rarely mix with.
Posted by Charles Warner at July 4, 2008 9:05 PM
Comments
Blacksmith ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mediacurmudgeon.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 7, 2008 4:25 PM writes:
I must take great exception With Todd's statement that we have "too much freedom of the press in this country."
Political discourse even to the point of falsehoods and deception has long been a part of the American political process. The marketplace of ideas is self correcting. If someone lies, we have the ability to call them on it and prove that his statement is false. In almost all situations, the solution to falsehoods and other misinformation is MORE speech, not less.
Who will be the arbiter of truth? The "truth" is different for different people. The only way to discover the "truth" is to hear differing viewpoints and maybe even some misinformation that gets corrected by others in the marketplace of ideas.
It is very troubling that there seems to be a trend for people to want to limit Constitutional rights especially when the government is increasing its controls and limits so effectively on its own.
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