Thursday, September 24, 2009

Michael Savage banned in Britain -- will State do nothing for him?

Does it not seem rather strange -- even comical in the German sense of the word "komisch" -- that an award winning radio talk show host, with two Ph.D.s and some very important contributions to scientific literature in his fields of botany and epidemiology, finds himself banned from traveling to a country he had never planned to visit because of selectively lifted quotes from his monologues, which were never heard on radio in that country, which severely distort his views? Or that the country in question is allegedly a democratic nation (a limited monarchy) with a robust tradition of free speech, which was passed on to the United States in its cradle?

What I find even stranger -- and in a darker sense, what I find outright perverse -- is a government that turns its back on one of its citizens, whose rights are being trampled on in a foreign country who is ostensibly our closest ally, with the silent acquiescence of much of the news media that supposedly bathes in the sunshine of freedom of speech and press. The hypocrisy all around staggers my imagination. It is an affront, an egregious insult to the very name Democratic, as far as the party of the administration is concerned, as well as to this nation with such deep historical roots in its mother country, to say to one of our native sons, for doing nothing but speaking his mind earnestly about the pressing issues of life and of the day, "No, you cannot come here, you are like a terrorist or a murderer."

Is this invective against an innocent man to be answered with silence? With consent? Is there no one left in the halls of power in this land to defend one citizen from being subjected to a bill of attainder by a foreign nation that purports to be our fastest friend? Even if we out of ignorance fail to respect the legal traditions of our nation-friends, does that mean we then deliberately choose to ignore our own Constitution and Bill of Rights as at least guiding principles in our dealings with countries who mistreat and oppress our people? What does that say about us?

It has been said that for evil to prosper, it is only necessary for good men to do nothing. I would like to believe there are still some good men and women left in the Government of the United States. But if they do nothing, are they truly good or are they a part of the problem? If nothing is done to right the wrong done to Michael Savage by Her Majesty's Government, I will have to believe that either good men are utterly powerless now, or that there are no good men left in the employ of the Department of State, the Obama Administration, or in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

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