Speech Impediment

BECAUSE there is nothing a free press likes to kvetch about more than freedom of the press, the American media have become fixated on the dumbest part of the Danish-cartoon brouhaha: the “right” of a newspaper to publish offensive material. This is an incandescently stupid topic to concentrate on. Not because freedom of the press isn’t important, but because we already know everyone in America believes in it. Imagine if coverage of the Tiananmen Square protest had been dominated by long debates about the freedom of assembly, and you get a sense of what I mean.

Part of the confusion stems from an odd intersection of conservative and liberal political correctness. Some conservatives adhere to the commandment “Thou shalt never bash religion.” And the spines of a great many liberals-who regularly bash religion in America-suddenly turn to sausage when it comes to offending the sensibilities of non-Western cultures. So freedom of the press is a nice safe harbor that allows everyone to trot along condemning the overreaction to the cartoons on First Amendment grounds. “I may disagree with what the Danish newspapers say, but I will defend to the death their right to say it.” This is nothing more than clichéd preening.

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Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg is a National Review contributing editor.

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BECAUSE there is nothing a free press likes to kvetch about more than freedom of the press, the American media have become fixated on the dumbest part of the Danish-cartoon brouhaha: the “right” of a newspaper to publish offensive material. This is an incandescently stupid topic to concentrate on. Not because freedom of the press isn’t important, but because we already know everyone in America believes in it. Imagine if coverage of the Tiananmen Square protest had been dominated by long debates about the freedom of assembly, and you get a sense of what I mean.

Part of the confusion stems from an odd intersection of conservative and liberal political correctness. Some conservatives adhere to the commandment “Thou shalt never bash religion.” And the spines of a great many liberals-who regularly bash religion in America-suddenly turn to sausage when it comes to offending the sensibilities of non-Western cultures. So freedom of the press is a nice safe harbor that allows everyone to trot along condemning the overreaction to the cartoons on First Amendment grounds. “I may disagree with what the Danish newspapers say, but I will defend to the death their right to say it.” This is nothing more than clichéd preening.