Sleepwalking toward the abyss
Tony Blankley entitles his latest Washington Times article Espionage by any other name, but I happen to think the last line he writes would have made a more suitable title: Sleepwalking toward the abyss. This is a truly frightening story, and I agree with Mr. Blankley that federal prosecutors should indeed review the information disclosed by Mr. Hersh to determine whether or not his conduct rises to the level of criminal espionage.
Of course the left will no doubt cry that this is just another attempt by the vast right-wing media machine to scare enlightened and thoughtful writers into silent submission. I guarantee they will use terms like a chill wind, casting a shadow, and the ever popular stifling free speech to describe Tony Blankley's suggestions that federal prosecutors get involved. But that suggestion does not in any way infringe on a persons right to freely express their opinions at all, it merely make the observation that words mean things. Mr. Blankley is, in essence, telling Seymour Hersh (et al) that you can go into a crowded movie theater and scream "FIRE" as loud and as often as you would like - just so long as you are prepared to take the moral responsibility for any injuries that may occur from the stampede, and financial responsibility for defrauding those patrons of their right to watch a movie they paid to see.
What too many in this country fail to understand is that the term "free speech" means that you are free to say (write, sing, etc.) whatever your heart desires, but not free from the consequences those words create.
