speech and respect - College of Social Sciences and International ...

The Poverty of Civil Libertarianism
"give out simple numbers, such as the number of housing units in the
U.S." without clearing this with the public information office. Although
the Bureau's Director denied this was official policy, she circulated an old
Commerce Department memorandum making it more difficult for
reporters to gain access to experts. In the run up to the 1992 American
election the Census Bureau delayed for months issuing a report showing
that the proportion of full-time workers earning less than $12,195 (in
constant dollars) declined in the 1960s, remained constant in the 1970s,
and then grew from 12.1 per cent to 18 per cent during the 1980s. The
head of the Division of Housing and Household Statistics caled this
"unusual—indeed, unprecedented." When the report finally appeared,
the press release downplayed its significance. New York Times A7 (May
12, 1992), 6 (May 23, 1992).
Two lawyers at the Resolution Trust Corporation (charged with selling
insolvent savings and loan associations) were demoted when they criticised
the RTC for failing to recover money. New York Times C1 (August
13, 1992).
FBI agent Jon Lipsky has been forbidden to tell a Congressional
committee why no individuals were prosecuted and so few crimes
charged for the mammoth environmental pollution at Rockwell International's
Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado. New York Times
s.1 p. 15 (September 27, 1992).
27 New York Times A6 (April 11, 1992). In July 1991 the Army Times
Publishing Co., which produces Army Times, Navy Times and Air Force
Times with a combined circulation of more than 200,000, refused an
advertisement praising gay soldiers in the Gulf War, insisting there had
been none! New York Times A15 (August 20, 1992).
28 Robbins (1992); New York Times A20 (December 20, 1991), A1 (April
14, 1992), A1 (April 15, 1992).
As Franklin Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented fourth term in 1944 his
doctor declared that he was "in splendid shape." When his feeble
appearance prompted rumours of high blood pressure his press secretary
got the FBI to investigate the doctor suspected of telling the truth. The
story was killed and Roosevelt re-elected. He died after three months in
office. New York Times A19 (April 23, 1992).
Blacklisted by the FBI for refusing to testify before the House Committee
on Un-American Activities, Howard Fast was unable to find a
publisher for his books. He wrote 20 under pseudonyms, several of which
became best sellers and were made into movies. New York Times B2
(September 23, 1992).
In 1988 the FBI public affairs officer wrote Priority, the Los Angeles
company that produced NWA's album "Straight Outta Compton," to
complain that the song "Fuck Tha Police" encouraged violence against
law enforcement personnel. Los Angeles Times A7 (May 2, 1992).
29 New York Times A8 (January 9,1992), A10 (March 19,1992), A9 (April 8,
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