2008 Woodie Awards
Lennox and the First Amendment
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Voices
What hypocrisy from Dennis Lennox! The man who constantly invokes the First Amendment and Freedom of Information is now calling for the silencing of voices who oppose him. If you think I'm overreacting, read his words about Brent McDermott's column on Mitt Romney. Lennox says this "should not have been published because the author is an operative for Democratic candidate Barack Obama", and calls for him not to be "allowed to write liberal propaganda." In his own words, Lennox demonstrates his intolerance for viewpoints other than his own.
I may have naively misunderstood the Bill of Rights, but I was under the impression that the First Amendment protected the free speech of liberals as well as conservatives, and included the right of editors to publish what they liked. It is not as if CM Life doesn't publish conservative views: Lennox has been given ample opportunity to exercise his First Amendment rights in the letters section, and has received plentiful coverage of his campaign against Gary Peters.
As for Lennox's defense of Romney, again we see double standards. Apparently, Democrats "don't like it when people achieve success without handouts and government assistance." So, are we supposed to believe that the son of former Michigan Governor George Romney achieved his successes entirely without anyone's help? Or that George W Bush achieved the highest office in the land entirely on his own abilities and intelligence, with no help from Dad?
Lennox asks for support from other students "regardless of their political views" in his dispute with faculty members. Unless he begins to show more respect for the opinions of others, I think it highly unlikely that will happen.
Michael Evans
Temporary history professor
I may have naively misunderstood the Bill of Rights, but I was under the impression that the First Amendment protected the free speech of liberals as well as conservatives, and included the right of editors to publish what they liked. It is not as if CM Life doesn't publish conservative views: Lennox has been given ample opportunity to exercise his First Amendment rights in the letters section, and has received plentiful coverage of his campaign against Gary Peters.
As for Lennox's defense of Romney, again we see double standards. Apparently, Democrats "don't like it when people achieve success without handouts and government assistance." So, are we supposed to believe that the son of former Michigan Governor George Romney achieved his successes entirely without anyone's help? Or that George W Bush achieved the highest office in the land entirely on his own abilities and intelligence, with no help from Dad?
Lennox asks for support from other students "regardless of their political views" in his dispute with faculty members. Unless he begins to show more respect for the opinions of others, I think it highly unlikely that will happen.
Michael Evans
Temporary history professor
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Mitch O'Donnell
posted 2/20/08 @ 8:32 AM EST
I think he was saying CM-Life shouldn't employ someone who is an Obama staffer.
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