Editor,
Recent events surrounding the comment made by professor Richard Berthold have inspired a witch trial straight out of the McCarthy era. Admittedly, what he said was insensitive, but his comment deserves to be heard.
We are not talking simply about academic freedom; we are talking about how America seems to have forgotten all the amendments with the exception of the second.
If we are truly entering a time of "enduring freedom," maybe we don't deserve to call ourselves Americans if we can't allow one person to make a dissident remark.
A remark that certainly holds more meaning is that "anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote." The University has robbed this comment of any validity. But, perhaps it is easier to send one man to be burned rather than admit the mistakes of an entire nation.
If we really are a country of truth and liberty, we will search for truth in the words of every statement, especially those that are brave enough to break away from censorship.
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All this in a time when we have already chosen an enemy, peace protestors have already been arrested for speaking their minds and nobody is really listening to what anybody is trying to say to explain the situation.
Maybe we got so consumed in being Americans we forgot that we were humans first. Humans can make mistakes, but obviously Americans cannot.
Marisol Martinez
Member of College Democrats
