Letters

Protecting free speech—not its consequences

Regarding Wendy Melillo’s column “Whistling Dixie (Chicks)” [May 5]: Protecting the right to free expression is a difficult and radical notion, but it is and should be and must be only that—the right to free expression. In essence, Melillo espouses a deeper form of protection—from the consequences of free speech. That’s impossible and would lead to far greater repression than anything Richard Nixon—or even Saddam Hussein—ever dreamed of.

Dealing with the outcome of free speech is not the problem of the government—or anyone other than the speaker, as long as nobody breaks any laws.