It looks like Mr. Bruce Barry might have started something with his Pith in the Wind post complaining about Phil Valentine’s Tennessean column (“What Does an Op-Ed Columnist Have to Do to Get Fired Around Here?”). The Wilson County Post, serving Lebanon, Watertown, and Mt. Juliet, has decided to “discontinue publishing” Phil Valentine’s column in their Gallatin and Hendersonville newspapers. CEO Sam Hatcher writes:
We have made a decision to discontinue publishing in our Gallatin and Hendersonville newspapers the column provided to us weekly by radio talk show host Phil Valentine.
His most recent column published Sunday in The Tennessean was so-to-speak the straw that broke the camel’s back.
His insensitive remarks about what “his†country or “his†federal government is doing for him is self promoting, egotistical and in our opinion not fit for print in today’s world of war and economic turmoil.
Specifically Mr. Valentine questions “what am I getting for my federal income tax?â€
Perhaps he would want to ask the mother of a National Guardsman or regular army recruit killed on a battlefield in a far away land that question.
Or maybe he would want to review the actions of the U.S. Supreme Court, which his tax dollars fund, that ensure he can speak his antagonistic words freely.
His federal tax dollars, my federal tax dollars and your federal tax dollars provide for all Americans a quality of life unlike any other in the world today.
We are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Christians, Jews and Hindu. We are black and white and red and other colors. Some of us gather in the evening without bread on our table while others of us eat bountifully. But we are all Americans.
Oh, there’s more. And it’s good.
Email Mr. Hatcher with words of support or better yet, subscribe to his fine newspaper.
Hat tip to Veronica Rexford, who writes the column “Veer Left” for the paper. (Link forthcoming…)
“Let’s censor out the opinions that you don’t want to hear.”
I can’t repeat myself all day. But here’s once more with feeling:
If you have opinions and ideas that differ from mine, bring them on. If you want to lie and obfuscate to “prove” your ideas and opinions are correct, that’s cheating.
And I can’t believe you even had the balls to write “The ‘free market’ doesn’t trump the Constitution of the United States.”
If I asked for a column in Mr. Hatcher’s newspaper and he turned me down and I complained that he violated my first amendment rights, you’d be the first to say that he had a right to print what he wanted.
“If there’s any justice in the world Hatcher’s propaganda rag will go bankrupt and he’ll end up living in a cardboard box under a freeway overpass somewhere.”
I guess your precious free market principles only apply to those who fall in line behind your opinions and ideas.
Valentine has done nothing for this city and region but spread fear and hate. The rest of the papers would be smart to kick him to the curb.
Mr. Hatcher’s letter was spot on! I may start a Sam Hatcher Fan Club! Gracias, Mr. Hatcher!
Oh yes, by all means. Let’s censor out the opinions that you don’t want to hear. For supposed journalists to not support the First Amendment is repulsive. If there’s any justice in the world Hatcher’s propaganda rag will go bankrupt and he’ll end up living in a cardboard box under a freeway overpass somewhere. The “free market” doesn’t trump the Constitution of the United States, Ms. Mancini, and firing somebody because you don’t agree with their opinion is not the free market in action anyway.
Number 9,
Thank for proving my point about obfuscation. You left out the part of my comment where I wrote, “If we can get all this under our current system than I’m fine with it.”
In other words, I’m still not sure why you’re going on and on about my “embracing social democracy.”
Here’s at least one column where Phil doesn’t get his facts straight. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090308/COLUMNIST0130/903080348/1007/OPINION
PS: Lying is not a form of dissent.
You have ideas that are different than mine? Bring them on. You want to lie in order to prove your ideas are valid? That’s not “free speech.” That’s cheating.
52 days, 52 mistakes (by Don Surber, interviewing for the open editorial position for Sam Hatcher)
Let me count them up, in no particular order. Some are big. Some are small. We all make mistakes. Here are some of Obama’s:
1. A do-over on the oath of office.
2. Tim Geithner.
3. Bill Richardson.
4. Tom Daschle.
5. Eric “Nation of Cowards†Holder.
6. Leon Panetta.
7. Arne “Cappuccino†Duncan.
8. Hilda Solis (OK, her husband has the tax liens).
9. Nancy Killefer.
10. Charles Freeman Jr.
11. Ron Kirk.
12. Adolfo Carrion.
13. Banning offshore oil again.
14. Letting Nancy Pelosi write the $787 billion “stimulus’ plan.
15. Relying on Tim Geithner to explain it.
16. It is a $13-a-week stimulus, or as his wife said of Bush’s plan: “You’re getting $600. What can you do with that? Not to be ungrateful or anything. But maybe it pays down a bill, but it doesn’t pay down every bill every month.â€
17. Going to a press conference without a TelePrompTer. I… Uhh… Umm… Could you repeat the question?
18. Using a TelePrompTer at a press conference. Big boys don’t need training wheels.
19. “Good evening, everybody. Please be seated. Before I take your questions tonight, I’d like to speak briefly.†1,228 words later he took his first question.
20. Going after Rush Limbaugh.
21. Going after Rick Santelli.
22. Going after Jim Cramer.
23. “Never waste a good crisis.â€
24. Obama supporter Warren Buffett: “I don’t think anybody on December 7th would have said a ‘war is a terrible thing to waste, and therefore we’re going to try and ram through a whole bunch of things and — but we expect to — expect the other party to unite behind us on the — on the big problem.’ It’s just a mistake, I think.â€
25. Writing a love letter to Vlad and Dmitry.
26. Putting Poland under the bus.
27. Putting Tibet under the bus.
28. Putting Israel under the bus.
29. Taking Cuba out from under the bus.
30. Having his tax cheat go after the tax cheats in Switzerland. Cognitive dissonance.
31. “Karzai has a bunker mentality.â€
32. Iran has plans to Marine One helicopters.
33. “I won.â€
34. BlackBerry singing in the middle of the night/ Take these golden secrets and learn to fly…
35. Obama: “If Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off.†CEO: No. There will be more layoffs.
36. DVDs to Gordon Brown.
37. “You can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime.†Vegas convention bookings nosedive.
38. Wagyu.
39. Reset/overcharge button given to Russia.
40. Taking a 4-day holiday weekend before signing “emergency†legislation.
41. “I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn’t under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks. It wasn’t on my watch. And it wasn’t on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement — the prescription drug plan — without a source of funding. And so I think it’s important just to note when you start hearing folks throw these words around that we’ve actually been operating in a way that has been entirely consistent with free-market principles and that some of the same folks who are throwing the word ’socialist’ around can’t say the same.â€
42. Stiffing Chicago for nearly $2 million for that Election Night par-tay.
43. Caroline Kennedy.
44. Bombing Pakistan.
45. Sending the bust of Sir Winston Churchill back to the British.
46. Saying: “President Obama has accomplished more in 30 days than any president in modern history.â€
47. A window is not a door.
48. Doctors must perform abortions.
49. Signing earmarks while denouncing them.
50. Adding signing statements while denouncing them.
51. Quadrupling the deficits, while denouncing them.
52. Missing the Gridiron Club dinner.
Looks like you don’t care for competition. How much bigger is Phil’s audience than yours? Sounds like sour grapes.
Mary writes, “I wish for freedom, equality, opportunity, prosperity, and security for all Americans and not just a select few.”
Select few? Have you ever read the Constitution? It seems as if you are looking trough the opposite of rose colored glasses.
The quickest way to tear this country apart is to embrace social democracy. It didn’t work for either France or England. Why would you think it could work in America? The government cannot legislate every part of life. People have to be self reliant. Your vision seems to be a much larger and more powerful government. Which is completely at odds with what you wrote.
Why liberals tolerate progressives is beyond me. Liberals are not the problem. Social democracy is socialism lite. Good luck with your dream. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.
“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as “bad luck.—
This illustrates a crucial distinction between conservatives and liberals. Conservatives complain about the media because of it’s lack of balance, liberals complain when it is balanced. Freedom is such a powerful idea, especially with all the emprical evidence from the last century, that the only way they can advance their agenda is to silence the other side. Their ideas have been tried in countless countries and have led to oppression, poverty, and death by the millions.
I see Mary talks about intellectual honesty but doesn’t follow it herself.
Here’s a free clue: the single biggest budget item in the Federal budget is…..Interest payments on the outstanding debt. Next up….Entitlement programs (Eg:Welfare, Medicare, etc). We’ve easily topped 50% of the total budget and the last time I checked we were approaching 70%. After that…Military spending.
Maybe Mary should go and actually READ the PUBLISHED budget before spouting nonsense. I’m seriously doubting that though, given her followup comments.
Here’s a good starting point: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/
How would you have reacted if you were fired for criticizing the previous administration? You would have been screaming bloody murder. But it’s ok when someone you disagree with gets booted.
Admit it, you really don’t want free speech and a free press for everyone. Just for the people that you agree with.
It’s no wonder newspapers are dying. Their objectivity disappeared a long time ago and people are tired of being spoon fed one side of the story. You and your kind just don’t get it. Either everybody gets to have free speech, including unpopular opinion, or it means absolutely nothing.
Judging by the amount of posts she’s added to this thread, Mary Mancini needs to get a life…
[...] It would be one thing to fire a writer because he’s a bad writer but to fire him because he question’s government spending? Seriously? See here for more information. [...]
We all wish for those things, Mary. Unfortunately, government will not deliver them. All government will do is all it has ever done. It will simply take our liberty. Your collectivist sentimentalism is as dangerous as it is fantastic. Killing the kulaks and redistributing their property never worked. What makes you think it will suddenly work now?
Mr. Valentine is right to ask the question of his money. Private property and the rights thereof are the foundation of all liberty. Money is certainly private property. Likewise, the newspaper is “right” in it’s decision to drop his column. Right in the sense that it isn’t necessarily wrong for them to do what they wish with their publication. That is, their right to do with their private property what they see fit. If, however, they wish to effect cultural change, they may be going about it the wrong way. Smarmy, chickenshit, parting-shot editorials only sway the simple and the ignorant. Hopefully we’ve not yet come to the point in our society where this type of thing is an effective marketing move.
Let free men and women move the market. Let the market speak and judge this newspaper and Mr. Valentine. As the masses haven’t yet begun to cry for bread and circuses, the market is still a relatively honest voice in our society.
“Do you wish for our American Federalist Constitutional Republic to be replaced with a Social Democracy?”
I wish for freedom, equality, opportunity, prosperity, and security for all Americans and not just a select few. I wish for health care for everyone so Americans just like you don’t have to choose between buying groceries and going to the doctor. I wish that every child in this country goes to bed loved and with a full stomach. I wish for justice. I wish that our schools were palaces. I wish for a 100% literacy rate. I wish that everyone who wanted to go to college was able to go to college. I wish for a fair and living wage for every worker. I wish that the needs of every soldier and every soldier’s family were taken care of, even after they are discharged. I wish every senior citizen the dignity and respect they deserve after a lifetime of contributing to society. I wish for domestic tranquility and a perfect Union.
If we can get all this under our current system than I’m fine with it.
Oh, just fucking blow me.
It’s valid and very patriotic question to ask.
If I knew where to find you on the dial I’d turn you off right before destroying my radio.
Government corruption and thievery is fine with you as long as your team is in office? I hope you spend your money well.
I have no problem with a paper firing a columnist. Valentine is an OK writer, but he’s no Bill Buckley.
The letter of explanation for the firing, however, was an embarrassment. Vague, trite and poorly reasoned.
I would think that a reporter were to address insensitive comments toward the government, the government would be big enough to take it. Is the government OK? Should we ask it to see the counselor?
The reasons given for why government is above criticism make even less sense. Were we not supposed to think as we read?
How much does the Supreme Court spend on protecting our free speech? Who would be violating that free speech, should their budget vanish? The government, I guess.
So Valentine was not clear on the fact that his money goes to the government to protect him from the government. I’m not sure I understand, either.
As to the mother of a slain soldier, there seems to be some implied guilt. Valentine could never look her in the eye, because the government he criticizes got her son killed. Other than the cheap shot emotional appeal, is there any reasoning in that at all? Do all mothers of fallen soldiers advocate trillion dollar stimulus packages and confiscatory taxation? I hadn’t heard that.
A simpler statement would have served them better: “We don’t like Valentines opinions or his writing, so we fired him.” Unfortunately it seems the depth of talent at this paper is not so deep that they can afford the loss of even a mediocre writer.
Dennymack
Let me get this straight: you guys are back-slapping and high-fiveing each other because you organized a hit on a guy who didn’t go along with the program? You folks are happy because you think you shut up and shut down someone who openly disapproved of the status quo? You’re throwing smug smiles and knowing winks around because you showed other potential deviants from the officially approved message that, “It can happen to you”? No? Sure looks that way from here.
What happened to all that, “dissent is the highest expression of patriotism” we’ve been hearing about for eight years? And, “an outspoken and vigorous opposition is the only thing which can save the country”? And, “our democracy can’t survive unless commonly held beliefs and community attitudes are challenged, even offended”? You know, we’ve heard an awful lot of that from you until very recently. So why aren’t we hearing it from you now?
But then those concepts really are only slogans you spout for political advantage, aren’t they? Because for them to be broadly and fairly applied principles, there has to be some intellectual honesty and moral courage backing them up in the first place, right? And there really hasn’t been a whole lot of that around here recently, now has there?
Didn’t think so.
It says a lot about MSM current situation that the editor in chief relies on the federal government money to ensure decent quality of life.
Serves him right- questioning authority? Shameful! We all know that disagreeing with the government is treasonous.
This funny picture shows why women who become left-wing also tend too become ugly over time.
Liberal and radio is a contradiction in terms. Comes under the “who gives a rat’s ass” clause.
Mary Mancini said,
“You’re kidding, right? If I went to a newspaper and asked for a column to write my opinions and they turned me down and then I accused them of “censorship†and violating the first amendment you would all be up in my face about the rights of the newspapers owners to do what they want with their business.”
The Constitution protects free speech from Government. Not from private citizens, newspaper owners or not.
The paper has every right to print whom they wish.
Censorship can only be practiced by government.
A writer I have never heard of is fired by newspaper I have never heard of. And now I gave them a click-through so they both probably think they have made a difference. Nyet!
That’s a two edged sword. I would have thought you would be against that.
Please tell me these comments are meant to be ironic.
there are a few social democracies that do quite well in the freedom area:
Do you wish for our American Federalist Constitutional Republic to be replaced with a Social Democracy?
It’s extremely sleazy for Hatcher to exploit soldiers killed in Iraq and elsewhere in a hatchetjob against someone who’s arguing that government needs to be held accountable. Pathetic.
According to the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, there are a few social democracies that do quite well in the freedom area: Denmark is #8, Finland is #17, and Sweden is #26 (out of 180 countries).
And stop calling me “Comrade.†It’s just silly.
Is it? The choice is USA or USSA. Name one place where social democracy has worked. Made a better country and provided more freedom and security to its citizens. All you can do is say they get free health care. They also pay huge taxes for that benefit. Most also have gutted their military to be able to provide the income for their social programs.
If you chose USSA, Comrade is the appropriate salutation.
Did this get Freeped or something? It *is* always interesting to watch sides change arguments after a change in power.
I vote with my ears and eyes. I ignore Phil Valentine whenever I can. I accidentally listened once and that was MORE than enough for me. I really enjoy expanding my horizons by seeking out different voices. But only when they have something informed (or at least entertainingly original) to say. Phil didn’t pass that test (it was pretty easy to tell during the brief exposure).
Oh, and if you’re calling me “Comrade” now, stick around. You’re going to love my post on Unions!
“Don’t newspapers have some responsibilities as part of the fourth estate or now that we are morphing into France is that out the window with the baby and the bath water?”
Not sure, let’s ask Robert Thomson.
My take on the Fairness Doctrine is well known and can be found here: http://www.liberadio.com/2009/02/12/run-along-now-little-fairness-doctrine-shoo/
And stop calling me “Comrade.” It’s just silly.
Sam Hatcher forgot those valiant soldiers on food stamps while the greedy congress is busy giving itself raises.
Is that what my taxes are paying for?
Try a little intellectual honesty. It’s nice!
Funny, giving the “newspapers are private businesses†debate gambit fresh from the Daily Kos. Don’t newspapers have some responsibilities as part of the fourth estate or now that we are morphing into France is that out the window with the baby and the bath water?
Where is that intellectual honesty you speak so highly of?
So, if a woman or a minority lost their newspaper column because they dared ask a question that might not have been PC in the new Obama dogma, then that is fine and dandy if they get fired? Comrade?
Let me guess Comrade, the fairness doctrine turns you on?
“We are the champions of liberty, the champions of the mind, and the champions of capitalism. The United States of America is the first—and perhaps the only—occasion in human history when a government has been organized on the premise that the individual matters—on the premise that you and I have the ability, the dignity, and the right to make our own decisions and determine our own destiny.”
Um, I think that’s what Mr. Hatcher is doing, is it not? Shouldn’t you be celebrating his decision as a capitalist to make his own decisions and determine his own destiny?
I guess because if affects your “side” it’s not acceptable.
The newspaper giveth Phil Valentine space in their paper to write what he wants and the newspaper taketh it away. How is that censorship?
Oh and I think – and I’m just guessing here – that you meant “if we become the USSR” blah, blah blah.
You’re kidding, right? If I went to a newspaper and asked for a column to write my opinions and they turned me down and then I accused them of “censorship” and violating the first amendment you would all be up in my face about the rights of the newspapers owners to do what they want with their business.
Try a little intellectual honesty. It’s nice!
Spare me your Rand illusion bulls**t. Defense spending “amounts to a small fraction of the total federal budget?” You might want to go back and check your numbers. William Buckley, Barry Goldwater, heck, maybe even David Brooks, are “important” defenders of conservatism. Valentine is a political hack who lies and obfuscates for his own personal gain. He’s not defending anything but his own self-interests.
I see the debate handbook from the Daily Kos is still being used.
When progressives (social democrats) talk about markets it is like computer people talking about features. Hint, when the computer expert says it is a feature it is usually not.
I really love this “newspapers are private businesses” so they can censor people.
So if we become the USSA, will you take the credit you deserve Mary? Or should I say Comrade Mary?
I just sent this to Mr. Hatcher:
Mr. Hatcher,
I am appalled by your decision to pull Mr. Valentine’s column. He was right to demand much needed accountability from Washington. The not-so-creeping socialism that the current administration is forcing productive Americans to pay for is an affront to American values of individualism and freedom.
You have every right to stop printing Mr. Valentine’s columns, but consider that in doing so you effectively endorse the continued erosion of freedom. Your explanation that tax dollars pay for national defense, the Supreme Court, and the FBI ignores the real issue: those proper functions of government amount to a small fraction of the total federal budget. The disparity between government spending directed at protecting individual rights and spending directed at providing handouts and bailouts is only projected to grow in coming years. Every year your argument becomes more and more spurious, as an increasingly larger share of our tax dollars is diverted from the legitimate functions of government you mention in your explanation.
Perhaps more important, though, is the suggestion that the government—much less the federal government—is responsible for our standard of living. The free-market aspects of our mixed economy are the driving forces for our quality of life in this country. Indeed, the world has benefited from American economic freedom and the technological and cultural advances the free-market has made possible. From pharmaceuticals to entertainment to computer technology to a hundred other endeavors, the minds at work in the United States or funded by capital created here lead the world.
Capitalism and the free market are important to defend only so much as one desires to live as a rational human being. To live as a human being means to live in a world where the wonderful achievements of the human mind are possible and where men treat one another as traders instead of slaves. To the parasite, to the slave master, to the second hander who is content to live off the hard work of others, capitalism is not worth defending. Roman historian Sallust observed that, “few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.†We Americans, the sons and daughters of liberty, are among the few. We are the champions of liberty, the champions of the mind, and the champions of capitalism. The United States of America is the first—and perhaps the only—occasion in human history when a government has been organized on the premise that the individual matters—on the premise that you and I have the ability, the dignity, and the right to make our own decisions and determine our own destiny. That, I think, is an important premise to defend.
You just silenced an important defender of that premise.
Very sincerely yours
“His federal tax dollars, my federal tax dollars and your federal tax dollars provide for all Americans a quality of life unlike any other in the world today.”
Well, now not so fast; some of us still provide for ourselves… How did you miss that?
They actually stopped publishing the column without Bruce Barry’s approval.
I’m sorry, Jamal, I thought the free market trumped everything and Mr. Hatcher had a right to do whatever he wanted with his nespapers?
I agree with Ms. Mancini…censorship rules!!! Let’s end all open debate!!! Hearing different points of view is for the birds!!!
[...] » Phil Valentine’s Column Watch: Two Down…Posted 7 hours [...]
[...] 13, 2009 · No Comments Mary Mancini fills us in on the long overdue decision by Mr. Hatcher of the Wilson Post to discontinue a column written by Phil [...]
Best news I’ve heard in a very long time. Heres hoping for a domino effect…