Book burning in America
One of the most famous acts of barbarism by the Nazis (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or National-socialist German Worker Party) was the famous book burning ceremony.
The epitome of fascist brutality against humanism. (This is a fasces, the symbol of the Fascist Party in Italy under Mussolini….)
Who are the fascists in Amerika today? Who are the atavistic new bookburners of today? Well, today it’s books, and it’s DVDs, and who won’t let certain items get out, because they are afraid of what the public might learn, feel, do, after being exposed to the ideas.
How about “The Path to 9/11”? Why is that not out there for the public discourse, free speech, and all that?
It’s ABC-Disney, who under pressure gave in to censorship to appease the Clintons, when threatened with a lawsuit that would pull the broadcast license from all ABC affiliate stations if certain things were not deleted. Amazing that the show aired at all. And now under even more pressure, ABC-Disney refuses to release the show on DVD, when it is a guaranteed money-maker. The show when it aired had the highest ratings. The DVD would really make them money. But they won’t release it. Why? Afraid of ideas? What about free speech?
And who is trying to stop people from getting on the radio to speak their mind about politics, culture, and whatever?
DENVER -- Sen. Barack Obama's campaign organized its supporters Wednesday night to confront Tribune-owned WGN-AM in Chicago for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its air.(Listen to the interview.)
"WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."
Kurtz, a conservative writer, recently wrote an article for the National Review that looked at Obama's ties to Ayers, a former 1960s radical who later emerged as a school reform advocate in Chicago.
The magazine had been blocked in its initial attempts to obtain records from the University of Illinois at Chicago regarding a school reform initiative called the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which Obama chaired and Ayers co-founded.
Obama critics were quick to suggest that political clout could be involved in seeking to protect Obama from embarrassment. The school later reserved its position and made the records available Tuesday.
On Wednesday evening, Obama's campaign urged supporters to call the radio station to complain.
"Tell WGN that by providing Kurtz with airtime, they are legitimizing baseless attacks from a smear-merchant and lowering the standards of political discourse," the note said.
"It is absolutely unacceptable that WGN would give a slimy character assassin like Kurtz time for his divisive, destructive ranting on our public airwaves," the note continued. "At the very least, they should offer sane, honest rebuttal to every one of Kurtz's lies."
Zack Christenson, executive producer of "Extension 720 with Milt Rosenburg," said the response was strong.
"I would say this is the biggest response we've ever got from a campaign or a candidate," he said. "This is really unprecedented with the show, the way that people are flooding the calls and our email boxes."
Christenson said the Obama campaign was asked to have someone appear on the show and declined the request.
So bookburning, welcome back. And who’s doing it? The people who want to make the “Fairness Doctrine” federal law. That would be a law that makes anybody who speaks their mind have to pay for their opponent to say whatever he wants to say. Fair?
Socialism is creeping up, creeping, it’s up to our necks.
