Volume 55, Number 9 · May 29, 2008
Free Speech & the Menace of Hysteria
By Jeremy Waldron
Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment
by Anthony Lewis
Basic Books, 221 pp., $25.00
The United States, says Anthony Lewis, is the most outspoken society on earth: 'Americans are freer to think what we will and say what we think than any other people.' If I were to write that George W. Bush is the worst president we have ever had, and that his vice-president and former secretary of defense are war criminals, I would not expect to be arrested for my impudence. It would be business as usual in America. 'Today,' says Lewis, 'every president is the target of criticism and mockery. It is inconceivable that even the most caustic critic would be imprisoned for his or her words.'
Review, 4336 words
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