On the Right

New York, June 12—Two nights ago I sat in the television make-up room scanning my notes. A few minutes later I would be discussing, as I had been asked to do, my reservations about the SALT Treaty. A pleasant middle-aged man approached me, begged my pardon for the interruption, and asked me to sign the form on his clipboard. He very kindly consented to let me read it first, which, for an agent of the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA), is a quite extraordinary concession. AFTRA is not accustomed to permitting its members any liberty whatsoever, insofar as AFTRA’s interests are concerned: you have to join the union, you have to pay your dues, you have to sign a form agreeing to do what the union tells you to do, you have to strike when they tell you to strike, you have to refuse to cross any picket line they tell you to refuse to cross.

So I read the form, wondering what would be AFTRA’s latest amendment to the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States which says that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. Congress can’t keep you from speaking, AFTRA’s position boils down to, but it can authorize AFTRA to do so, and the question that is now working its way slowly up the court system is precisely: Is the Act of Congress which purports to authorize AFTRA to compel membership or the payment of dues as a condition of going on the air a violation of the First Amendment? So I read on. The form authorized Dick Cavett to send $75 of my fee (of $200-odd) directly to AFTRA. How come, I asked AFTRA’s muscleman, how come you are docking me right here on the program? He replied that my office had neglected to send in the check for my dues for the month of May. In other words, I was apparently five weeks behind. If I hadn’t signed that form, AFTRA was in a position to go right then and there to ABC, which is Cavett’s sponsor, and demand that I not be permitted to go on the air to give my views on a treaty which the President of the United States has hailed as perhaps the most important in the history of organized efforts to make peace.

About the Author

William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr. founded National Review magazine in 1955.

Featured Tags

Presidential Election

Communism

Richard Nixon

New York, June 12—Two nights ago I sat in the television make-up room scanning my notes. A few minutes later I would be discussing, as I had been asked to do, my reservations about the SALT Treaty. A pleasant middle-aged man approached me, begged my pardon for the interruption, and asked me to sign the form on his clipboard. He very kindly consented to let me read it first, which, for an agent of the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA), is a quite extraordinary concession. AFTRA is not accustomed to permitting its members any liberty whatsoever, insofar as AFTRA’s interests are concerned: you have to join the union, you have to pay your dues, you have to sign a form agreeing to do what the union tells you to do, you have to strike when they tell you to strike, you have to refuse to cross any picket line they tell you to refuse to cross.

So I read the form, wondering what would be AFTRA’s latest amendment to the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States which says that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. Congress can’t keep you from speaking, AFTRA’s position boils down to, but it can authorize AFTRA to do so, and the question that is now working its way slowly up the court system is precisely: Is the Act of Congress which purports to authorize AFTRA to compel membership or the payment of dues as a condition of going on the air a violation of the First Amendment? So I read on. The form authorized Dick Cavett to send $75 of my fee (of $200-odd) directly to AFTRA. How come, I asked AFTRA’s muscleman, how come you are docking me right here on the program? He replied that my office had neglected to send in the check for my dues for the month of May. In other words, I was apparently five weeks behind. If I hadn’t signed that form, AFTRA was in a position to go right then and there to ABC, which is Cavett’s sponsor, and demand that I not be permitted to go on the air to give my views on a treaty which the President of the United States has hailed as perhaps the most important in the history of organized efforts to make peace.