Submitted by Lawrence Ricci(United States), Sep 30, 2002 at 23:18
The central, and dangerous, issue associated with a 'blacklist; is that it is- well, 'black' -- hidden, secret, unknown except to the few who use it to exclude others from jobs, debate etc.
Mr. Pipes' list is far from 'black'--- it is as public as the list of GOP contributors, as public as the directors of Enron ...
Why should a list of anyone who voices views hostile to American democracy be censored or restrained? Where is the limitation on freedom of speech?
What I would hope is we can do a better job of damning these bigots with the exact words from their mouths. Can we do a better job of just revealing the lunatic fringe--those who claim that the "Jews blew up the WTC." Indeed, I would like to see a simple list compiled under this giant lie of public figures who support it. Perhaps this would be a good format for a future list---not a list of names, but a list of screwball lies followed by a list of the people who support them, and their own words on the subject.
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