Taser This: F**K Standards

To me, the First Amendment is our most cherished constitutional right. The idea that we can question our leaders without fear of reprisal by the government is something I hold sacrosanct. Whenever someone tries to impinge this right, I will make my displeasure known.

That being said, this doesn't mean anybody can just spout what they want, and get away with it. Although the government has little right to limit speech (save for the old chestnut about yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater), the same right isn't expressly extended to private entities. For example, Fox can force The Simpsons to pixelate nude rear-ends, and Comedy Central can tell Stone & Parker to not show the image of Muhammad. I don't believe they should enforce those limits, but I do not deny they have the ability to do so.

The issue is a little grayer, however, when it comes to political statements and news media. The issue becomes even grayer when the media outlet in question is a student newspaper on the campus of a public university. Where is the line drawn? Is anything out of bounds, or are there things for these papers that can result in negative consequences for the writer?

Thus we come to the controversy at Colorado State University. I'd summarize the editorial, except for the fact that it is almost exactly the same as this post's title, with "Bush" in the place of "Standards".

In my opinion, the editor should be fired. Not because of his political beliefs, or even because he used "Fuck" in the story. To fire him because of a political view in an editorial would be disastrous, a serious violation of the First Amendment. The use of "Fuck", although rather vulgar and contrary to usual journalistic standards, is defensible, if used in a clever or meaningful way. This is especially so in a campus newspaper, which is bound to be looser and more irreverent than the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times.

He should lose his job because the statement wasn't exactly thought-provoking, humorous, or even all that bold. It was raw sensationalism for the sake of getting a rise out of people. Although there is a place for that kind of behavior, it isn't on the editorial pages.

One thing people seem to forget is that you have the right to free speech, but that also means people have the right to disagree with you. Your words have consequences, whether intentional or not. As this editor has the right to express his opinion, so do those who disagree with him. This is in clear force in this case, as the campus Republicans are pushing to bankrupt the paper until he is fired.*

So I ask on Mr. McSwane to do the right thing and resign. Not because I don't believe he has a right to say "Fuck Bush". His continued presence on the paper is harming its reputation, hurting its staff, and causing an uproar much greater than its true importance. If he won't live up to the consequences of his actions, the board in charge of the paper must act and remove him. Only by this action can the newspaper, and the students of Colorado State, move on.

*-The predictability and machine like actions of the Campus Republicans have their own disturbing elements, but I do not wish to get off on a tangent about the Republican party here.