GOP Stifles Free Speech
by Lisa Fabrizio

As the days dwindle down to a precious few leading up to November second, tales of galloping woe fill the crisp autumn air as accusations of repression, suppression and downright aggression emanate daily from the Left.

Out on the hustings, at a black church in Cleveland, John Kerry charged, "We're seeing efforts by the Republicans, unfortunately, in various parts of the country to suppress votes and intimidate people, to do things that bring back memories that are pretty bitter in the American mind from the year 2000. We're not going to let that happen because the memories of 2000 are too strong. We're not going to allow one million African Americans to be disenfranchised." Leaving the irony of a Democrat recalling black voter suppression in the South aside for the moment, I would remind Mr. Kerry that out of the 25 Florida counties that had the highest 'ballot-spoilage' rates, 24 were supervised by his own party.

Not to be outdone by the candidate himself, the Hollywood contingent piped up with more tales from the GOP dark side. America's yenta, Barbra Streisand, explained helpfully that it is in fact, George Bush's fault that the media will not explore the "facts" contained in Dan Rather's forged National Guard documents: "The media's attention is diverted from the real story because we now live in a time where the fear of revenge by this administration sends a chill through the corporations that control our media and overwhelms the press' responsibility to investigate, educate and hold our leaders accountable." The climate was apparently not too chilly to divert CBS producer Mary Mapes when she spent the last five years trying to nail Bush -- and all she got was those lousy forgeries.

Also weighing in was actress Cameron Diaz, who contributed this deep thought: "If you think that rape should be legal, then don't vote." And out on his 'Vote for Change Tour,' where Bruce Springsteen is bravely defending the nation from President Bush, he explained his mission; "It's an emergency intervention." I don't know about the rest of you but I'll sleep more soundly tonight knowing that these two are on the watch.

In another emergency intervention, Dan Rather's comrades crawled out of their foxholes to defend him this week. In his best 'all for one, one for all' mode, Peter Jennings said, "I think the attack on CBS is an attack on mainstream media, an attack on the so-called 'liberal media.'" "There's a political jihad against Dan Rather and CBS," said Tom Brokaw without a trace of shame. "We know a mistake was made, but it's been blown out of proportion. It's an attempt to demonize CBS news. It's a demagoguery unleashed on the Internet. It's a very painful process, but we need to leave it to CBS to deal with the investigation. This was a mistake. It was not a political attempt (by CBS) to unseat the president." How Brokaw knows this is unclear but rumor has it that a certain Miss Mapes told him so.

Speaking of demagoguery, Liberal dinosaur Walter Cronkite, also fired back at the right-wing pajamahadeen; "I cannot understand how the Internet should have gotten so entirely oblivious to the whole theory of libel and slander. How is it possible for these people to get on the air with any allegation they want to make, any statement they want to make as if it were true, as if they were journalists which they are clearly not? They are scandal mongers."

Scandal mongers though they may be, I am unaware of any of them who stepped in front of a camera and declared that the Tet Offensive -- where enemy casualties outnumbered ours nearly 50 to 1 -- was a "draw;" a misrepresentation which led to the loss of more American lives by emboldening the enemy to fight on after that huge defeat.

In any case, these new allegations of repression, rape, bullying and cyber-jihad are a refreshing change from the usual Liberal charges of poisoning the environment and the starving of children and the elderly. The message changes but the messengers remain the same.

The new twist is that 'old media' has now overtly joined the chorus of prominent Democrat politicians decrying the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's pernicious attempts at muzzling them. And if George W. Bush prevails in November, the silence from these groups should therefore be deafening. You think?

Lisa Fabrizio is an internet columnist from Stamford, Connecticut.

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