Free Speech

A Marquette professor is accusing me of being anti-free speech. It's hard to imagine a sillier argument, as I make my living on my speech. The passage responsible for the controversy is as follows:

The blogosphere has no sheriff to police most of the comments or statements. But I predict the legal system eventually will step in to restrain some of the more outrageous commentary sent out over the blogosphere.

Some of this stuff is just too ugly to let go unchecked.

Nobody checks your credentials - or your credibility - at the blogosphere door.

I love free speech, but I don't love all free speech, and really, if we listen to certain things aren't we less free? What this professor doesn't seem to understand is that there are many types of freedom, and some of the greatest freedoms that we have derive from the restrictions that we place on ourselves.

Look at affirmative action, for instance. Some freedom may be lost by a few privileged white kids, but don't we end up with more freedom for a group that has typically lacked for freedom?

Free speech isn't just about unregulated speech, it is about speech that promotes freedom. Some of this blogospheric nonsense flies in the face of our freedoms, and it is up to all of us to take this ability away.

Some of you may ask whether or not such restrictionon would affect my livelihood.

Of course not. I work for a newspaper. And newspapers are the proper outlet for all of the free speech that we need.