From: Declan McCullagh <declan@xxxxxxxx>
Dave,
I've been a bicyclist all my life as well, ever since participating in the
Philadelphia-Ocean City MS ride (150 miles) when I was around 10 years
old. I agree with Dana that the talk show hosts' comments, as I understand
them, are vile and contemptible remarks that go beyond the pale and have
no place in civil discourse.
But I would caution IPers about lobbying the FCC to censor the radio
stations. That could set a nasty precedent. Imagine the next time a
political talk show host quipped "President Bush is guilty of treason" or
"Senator Hillary Clinton should be strung up." If the three Clear Channel
stations lose their licenses, that would set the perfect precedent for any
offended parties (and there always are some) to censor controversial
political speech in the future.
Living in a free society means occasionally tolerating vile and
contemptible remarks. The hosts' remarks would be legal if typed in a
Usenet post or published in a book; they should be legal on the air as
well. As noxious as the anti-bicyclist comments are, they do not rise to
the level of "terrorism," and we should not follow the Bush
administration's unfortunate lead of broadening the definition of the word
far beyond its original meaning.
The best way to respond to hateful speech is with speech of your own
including publicity and boycotts. That seems to have worked here:
Advertising has been pulled, Clear Channel has apologized on the air and
has, the AP article said, "donated $10,000 and air time to promote bicycle
safety."
-Declan