This morning as I looked at some email, I was greeted with this ad:
Sponsored Links Cancel Keith Olbermann?
Are His Statements So Outrageous That His Show Should Be Banned?
I was sort of shocked (and dismayed) by the ad. Ban him! Then I thought about it. The freedom of speech is a dangerous thing. It means that crafty people, sophists, idiots and fools are given the ability to both craft and ply their trade in our culture. This is dangerous.
American democracy is now at danger. Its greatest trouble, I believe, is not international terrorism or even the financial crisis. It is a morality deficit. We have ceased to be “One people, under God” and have found, sadly, that without the “under God” we will no longer be “one people.” Have we as a nation stood up to face this disintegration of our great nation? No! We have slinked off into our tribal caves with our own cable channels—conservatives have Fox; liberals use the CNBC cave; Epicureans have the Food Network; and Trekkies have the Scifi channel. The talking head—like Olbermann—keep stirring the pot, but their end, remember, is not fixing the problem but in stirring the hearts of dull listeners to rage. They are after your money eventually and consistently.
Note this troubling realization—any country that gives its people freedom of speech does so foolishly if its people (particularly its young) can not think logically and see through the guise of the sophists and con men. A person without these skills is an easy mark in our culture. I fear that all of us are far too easy being pulled to and fro by con artists of all sorts and persuasions.
Increasingly, I am convinced that the possibility of the continuance of American democracy rests on giving our kids an education that will prepare them for the cavalcade of confident men that will face them in our culture. We must remember that our country was founded in an age where all leaders received a classical education. They allowed things like freedom of speech because they had and were providing an education for their children that prepared them for the war of ideas—the battle of words—that leaders constantly face. If things like the freedom of speech are to exist, we have to work ourselves and provide for our children an education that will make them able to stand the torrent of words in our world and cling tenaciously to the truth.
Of course, any of you who know me, know that I am not always a fan of Keith Olbermann. Politically, we tend to disagree. I do think that, if conservatives would pay attention, he might perform an interesting service to conservative politics by consistently skewering what is weak and teaching us our own flaws. That said, Mr. Olbermann and I tend to disagree. I was sort of shocked (and dismayed) by . . . .
