Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

October 01, 2007

F*** Bush Editorial Nonsense Continues

You know it's "big news" if the Times picks up on it. The idjit students over at Colorado State University, who thought it would be "necessary in communicating our opinion" about the current political debate by saying "F*** Bush" in bold letters on the editorial page, have been screaming about their First Amendment rights ever since the paper was printed.

Let's get down to brass tacks. First off, hardly anyone reads college newspapers, least of all the students. The one and only reason this has gotten any notice is because it denigrates the man liberals have demonized like no other president of our time. Calling a sitting president the most vile names, comparing him to the likes of Hitler, and claiming we are living in a fascist state because they can't accept the fact that Bush won in 2000 has become the liberal's new national sport. Whatever will they do when Bush leaves office? Who will they vent their spleen on then?

Secondly, this is NOT about free speech. See, if we didn't have free speech in this country, we would not be debating this editorial. The government would have shut down the newspaper, thrown the editorial board in jail with no trial, and the rest of us, had we even heard about it, would be afraid to say anything about it in public. Look at what's happening in Burma! So let's not confuse the issue.

The issue is really this: responsible speech and good taste. The editorial was tacky and childish. Those students know nothing about "challenging the current political climate." They've been spoonfed leftwing rhetoric day one from their professors, and so rather than write a thoughtful piece about the tasering of a college student in Florida -- which was, believe it or not, what this editorial was supposed to be about -- they take the opportunity to make a potty-mouthed broadside at President Bush who, as far as I know, had nothing to do with the taser incident. (If you'll recall, it happened at a forum with Sen. John Kerry.) I liken it to the young child who says his first swear word in front of an adult to see what kind of reaction he'll get. This is what higher education is buying us today?

As a result, the public became angry and a major advertiser (the school bookstore) pulled its advertising. Anyone in publishing (or any other kind of business) knows that if you offend your customers you will lose them. Now this J. David McSwane has been called on the carpet and may lose his position as editor, and has consulted a lawyer about his rights. Puh-leeze. His decision lost the paper $30,000 in advertising revenue, which meant major cuts in the budget. The possibility of his being fired, in my opinion, is more of a business decision than anything else.

Lesson one: free speech has consequences. If you want to use inflammatory speech, fine. But be prepared for criticism and possible retribution. Just because you can say it doesn't mean you won't get any kind of backlash for it. Lesson two: you'll get more of a thoughtful response to your speech if you use grown-up prose and avoid sounding like Beavis and Butthead hanging out in front of a convenience store. And you might even convert a few people to your way of thinking.

But it's lesson three that will stick in the minds of most people: print something stupid, pitch a fit after you're criticized for it, and have your name and face all over the national news for weeks. Not only is it good for your ego, but in today's "professional" media climate, having the "guts" to defame President Bush in your student newspaper just might be the ticket to your first job after graduation.

Such is the Jerry Springer-ization of our society today.