Column: UK unfairly bans Michael Savage

By Clay Carter

Published Jan. 22, 2010

Late last year, Michael Savage was banned from the U.K. Savage, a conservative talk show host and author, was banned from the U.K. not for his actions but for his conservative views. With the December plot from Muslim extremists to blow up a plane on its way to the U.S., I cannot help but wonder why it's acceptable for Britain to profile Savage for his conservative views but not to profile some Muslims for their extremist views?

It seems unfair a man who has never advocated violence can be profiled and not allowed into a country, but here in the U.S. a Muslim extremist who was on a watch list was able to enter the country via airplane. Because America decided not to profile Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, all the innocent people on flight 253 were put in danger, and now everyone who flies will have a whole new set of regulations by which they must abide. But in the U.K., the only thing Savage would be doing is expressing his views and opening up people's minds.

It seems to me there has been more outrage over profiling terrorists than there has been about the profiling of Michael Savage and his political views in the U.K. Most people don't agree with all Savage's views, so they brush this incident off as a rare case and do not look at the impact this has on our society. Sure, today it's Michael Savage, but I cannot help but wonder who might be next. Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly? Maybe it will take commentator Keith Olbermann or President Barack Obama being banned before people wake up and realize what a big deal it is to censor people's views.

The U.K. is using the threat of banning people from its country to inhibit free speech and force political correctness on its citizens. But how politically correct is it to blow up a plane? Ultimately, the people who are really hurt by this are the citizens of the U.K. who no longer have the freedom to express their views openly.

A democracy cannot work, and a country cannot truly be free, when people no longer have the right to speak their minds. This past year, we saw Iranian citizens take to the streets in hope of being able to express their beliefs. We cannot look at what is going on in Iran and not acknowledge how important it is to exercise free speech. I believe one of the key elements needed for a democracy to work is people's ability to freely express their views. Without this, how else can people hold government responsible for its actions? How else can a country bring change?

In the U.S., the First Amendment protects free speech, but how free can our speech be if we have to worry about the threat of being banned by another nation? Without new ideas that might offend some people, how can a country grow and change?

One of Savage's favorite quotes deals with this very subject: "The First Amendment isn't to protect polite speech; it's to protect offensive speech,” he said.

If we do not protect people's rights to offensive speech we will eventually lose our First Amendment right to all forms of speech, and we will lose the innovations that come with that freedom. I wouldn't want to live in a country where people are not free to express their political views, and the British people are no longer able to.

Clay Carter is a member of the MU College Republicans and a sophomore finance major. He can be reached at ccp6c@mail.missouri.edu.